


The Other Side

by SperaStella



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Pre-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:27:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SperaStella/pseuds/SperaStella
Summary: General Leia Organa looks around the room.The adrenaline of their escape, a brief respite, had worn off. The fallout from the First Order’s assault on Crait left this group, no more than 40, the last remnants of the Resistance.Short damerey story aimed at flushing out some of the character arcs after TLJ. Still fits in the cannon timeline between TLJ and TROS but I may come back to revive later as a "fix-it."===============Chapter 8 is my 6000 world rambling of thoughts, opinions and feelings of character development from TROS.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 34
Kudos: 71





	1. Conviction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Long time Damerey reader, first time poster!
> 
> I started this a long time ago but with ROS dropping this week I figured we could all use more Damerey in our lives.

General Leia Organa looks around the room. 

The adrenaline of their escape, a brief respite, had worn off. The fallout from the First Order’s assault on Crait left this group, no more than 40, the last remnants of the Resistance. 

_Where do we go from here? How do we rebuild the Resistance from this?_

Those were the questions Leia saw in their faces. 

Finn and Rey were seated in a corner whispering quietly and keeping an eye on Rose as she recovered in one of the bunks. So much has happened since the two were last together in the forest of Starkiller base. 

Finn was a bonafide hero of the resistance and Rey...Rey was lost. She tried to save Ben, but Master Skywalker was right - it didn’t go how she had thought. Now she and Finn, the only resemblance of a family she’s ever really known, are fleeing for their lives. 

Connix, D`Acy and Poe were huddled around a table on the opposite side of the room no doubt unsure of what was next. Who could blame them? Poe successfully took charge on Crait leading them out of the mine to escape the First Order but now that they were (temporarily) safe, what comes next? 

Quite frankly, Leia wasn’t so sure herself.

Chewie appears from the cockpit, breaking her from a contemplative gaze and giving her short set of howls. 

“Really?” she frowns.

Chewie gives a slight, depressing nod. 

“How far can we get?” 

Chewie responds with another depressed howl. 

“Well that’s less than ideal...” Leia knows they need a place to lay low, regroup and form a coherent plan. But where could they go and stay safe from the First Order given the current condition of the Falcon? After consulting navigational maps with Chewie for a few minutes, Leia makes a decision with a less than confident look on her face. 

As Chewie heads back to the cockpit to chart the course, Leia signals towards Connix, D`Acy and Poe.

“Yes General?” replies Connix as the trio heads over to her. 

“Gather everyone here please.” 

In less than two minutes, the entirety of what’s left of the Resistance is at the center of Falcon. 

Leia can see the flicker of hope in their eyes - she’s seen that look her whole life. They are looking at her hoping she has a plan, hoping she has words of encouragement, and hoping most of all this isn’t the end. 

“We are headed for Naboo,” she announces. “Chewie says we’re running low on fuel and the hyperdrive is damaged such that long hyperspace jumps aren’t an option.”

Finn and Rey look at one another. Neither of them have ever been to Naboo before. Guessing by the looks on some of the remaining resistance members faces though, Finn is not feeling very confident.

“We’ll resupply on Naboo and figure out our next move while we try to make contact with Black and Inferno Squadron and any remaining Resistance cells in the outer rim.”

Commander D`Acy steps forward, “General, do you think it’s wise...surely the First Order…”

Leia holds her hand up, “Of course the First Order will be there, but we don’t have many good options. When all hope seems lost, it's now more than ever we need to lean on our friends.”

“Yes...of course General.” D`Acy steps back, but with an expression that doesn’t do much in reassuring the group -- or Finn for that matter who gives Rey another concerned look. 

As Rey looks around the room sizing up different people’s reactions, she notices Poe looking off into the distance, an expression on his face she can’t quite read. 

He wasn’t what she expected when they finally met. Maybe it was the way Finn and BB-8 spoke about him, the stories they told as if this man, Poe Dameron, was larger than life. Instead, she found him to be just a bit taller than her, with dark curly hair, slightly tanned skin, a chiseled jaw and a warm smile that made her stomach churn when he introduced himself (despite the fact that she wasn’t hungry at the time). 

Rey shakes her head, focusing back on Leia.

“We’ll take watch shifts till we reach Naboo,” concludes the General “Just in case we run into any trouble when we land, I want everyone rested.” As the group begins to disperse with Rey and Finn heading back to their seats, Leia pulls Poe aside.

“Poe, take his arm, "I know it's been hard on you, with the losses at the Dreadnought, the mutiny and now Crait.”

He responds silently with a short nod. 

“I want you to know how much I value your conviction Poe, and it's precisely that fire we are going to need in order to rebuild the Resistance. These people look to you as a leader...” she motions to the rest of the group, “...and I need you to be one as well.”

“General, I’m not sure I’m what the Resistance needs right now.”

“Bullshit.”

He looks at her with doubt.

“Poe, you have spent most of your life in a cockpit or aiming down a blaster so let me give you some advice. Being a leader isn’t about being right all the time or never making mistakes. You are going to make mistakes.”

She pauses, ensuring he’s still following her. “It’s what you do after those mistakes that matter.” 

“Luke...” pausing with a hint of remorse mentioning her brother, “would say your focus determines your reality.”

Poe looks at her, eyebrows raised.

She rolls her eyes. “According to Luke, it’s some ancient pearl of wisdom from a Jedi Master several generations ago.” 

“Anyway, I’ve always found it comforting in thinking no matter how bad things got -- and trust me they’ve gotten really bad as we’ve all just experienced -- there is always _hope_ , as long we believe in it.”

“I think...I think I follow you General.”

“Good. _Commander._ ” she says dismissing him.

Poe nods and smiles slightly as he heads back to join the rest of the group, understanding the responsibility she is asking of him is more than just about restoring his previous rank. 

Despite all his bravado, skill as a pilot and member of the resistance, it’s Poe Dameron’s heart Leia admires most. He reminds Leia of herself when she was young: brash, confident, skilled and most of all committed to her beliefs. Perhaps in some ways that’s why she views him as the son she never had.

***

“Have either of you seen BB-8?” Poe asks returning to D`Acy and Connix.

“I think I saw him with Finn and Rey,” Connix responds.

“Alright thanks.”

He finds BB-8 leaning against Rey’s leg as she and Finn speak quietly. They have moved Rose to a bunk off the main section of the Falcon to rest; less hustle and bustle that way. The Falcon was a fantastic ship, but it wasn’t exactly built for long space travel with this many people. 

“Hey buddy, been looking for you,” said Poe smiling down at his droid. [Master Poe!] beeped BB-8, quickly rolling from Rey’s side before reaching his feet.

“He missed you too” noted Rey, taking in Poe’s tired demeanor. 

Poe leaned down, patting BB-8 on the head. “I bet. You did well back there on Crait.”

BB-8 gave off a soft set of happy beeps and begins to regal Poe of their adventures. “Look buddy, we gotta…” 

“Hey Poe,” interjected Finn with a nervous look on his face, “we wanted to ask you what’s up with us heading to Naboo?”

“What do you mean?” Poe responded, looking up. 

“Well not everyone seemed keen on the idea of heading to Naboo. Why is that?”

Poe smiled to himself taking a few steps forward and slowly sitting down next to Finn and across from Rey. 

Finn had a nervous expression of worry on his face. For all the time he’s known him, Poe was beginning to think concern and worry was part of Finn’s natural state. He can still remember the day they met, Finn talking to himself out-loud trying to keep calm as they escaped the First Order. 

Poe looked over toward Rey. Thankfully, she was a bit more composed, her hazel eyes meeting his brown, looking more curious than nervous waiting on his response. 

“Naboo has something of a long history with the old Empire and Rebellion,” he started.

“The former Emperor was actually from Naboo. During the war, however, Naboo was one of the planets most sympathetic to the Rebellion. The General received a lot of aid from Naboo during the war and still has many friends there from back in the day - namely the Queen.”

“The Queen?!” responded Finn with a shocked look on his face. “Of Naboo?”

“Yes, the Queen of Naboo.”

“The Queen, the General, and my mother...” he paused for a split second mentioning his mother, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Rey, “...all fought together after the Battle of Endor to liberate Naboo.”

“Well then what is there to worry about if we know the Queen?!” 

“It’s not that simple,” Poe responded shaking his head. “Although the Queen still technically rules Naboo, the First Order has effectively seized control of the planet, along with a number of other systems formally sympathetic to the Rebellion.”

“So what’s the plan if the First Order controls the planet?” inquired Rey. 

“Well, we’re still working on it, but the most important thing we’ll need help with is securing additional transport and finding at least a semi-permanent place to set-up a base. The Queen may be able to help in that regard.” _I hope so at least_.

The truth was he had no idea what the plan was, he was more or less telling Finn and Rey what he thought they needed to hear. A plan was probably something he should look into though. 

After a minute or two of silence, Poe rose to his feet and motioned toward BB-8 to follow. 

“You should both get some rest,” he says, putting a hand on Finn’s shoulder as he walked past, “Everything is going to be ok.”

Poe wasn’t sure who he was trying to reassure more with that statement, Finn, Rey or himself. Probably all of them.

“Thanks, Poe” said Rey, managing a half smile.

He paused, looking at her for a moment (or two) before nodding in return. Turning and heading back towards the rest command staff to work on the “plan,” Poe tries to stay focused on the work ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super nervous as this will be my first multi-chapter fic. Title comes from the song by Ruelle. Suggestions and criticism welcome. 
> 
> Let me know what you think and if anyone caught the prequel reference in this chapter! This will be a SLOW burn, ice caps melting slow. 
> 
> I have the first few chapters mostly written so I will try post at least once a week to start. 
> 
> I haven't decided how much cannon divergence this will take and I'm suspecting a lot will depend on how ROS ends (I've tried to stay away from spoilers). I will update appropriately as needed.


	2. Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey meditates. Rose wakes up. Poe takes on a new mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saw TROS last night. Apologies if this chapter is a little scattered, there is a reason for that. I'm also bad at naming chapters. Comments and thoughts on where this fic is going now that TROS is released is in the notes at the end. 
> 
> No spoilers here, you are safe.

Rey sits alone in the engine room of the Falcon, just down the hall from the main hold. Her legs are crossed, eyes closed and hands on her knees as she tries to center herself. The humming of the engines providing a calming background noise, like the whispering sands of Jakku. 

The flight to Naboo would be another hour or so and Rey figured now was as good a time as any to meditate. Poe and BB-8 were in the main hold working with Leia, D`Acy and Connix on the plan for once they arrived on Naboo. Finn, meanwhile, remained at Rose’s side in the crew quarters, not wanting her to be alone should she wake up. Truthfully, Rey was thankful for the time alone, she was mentally and physically exhausted.

_Breathe. Just Breathe._

From torture at the hand of Snoke, Ben killing his master, their defeating of Snoke’s guards, her failed attempt at trying to get him to come with her, and Luke’s passing...it was all too much. One of those tragedies alone would be more than any normal person could handle, but here she was, trying to unpack it all. 

Rey breathed in deeply, trying to concentrate and reach out with her feelings as Luke had taught her. She felt Leia first, tempering sadness of the loss of her brother and instead focusing on the task at hand. Next to Leia was Poe, swirling in a way Rey couldn’t quite understand, his energy somehow warm and cold at the same time. Concern and exhaustion surrounded Finn as he continued to wait for Rose to wake up. Rey knew the young woman would be alright despite remaining unconscious, she could feel Rose’s warmth next to Finn. 

_Breathe. Just Breathe._

Her friends need her. The Resistance needs her. Rey knows this now, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Luke told her it was time for the Jedi to end, but she can’t accept that. She must find a way to become a Jedi without him. 

Rey continues to reach out, feeling the space between all things, _a tension,_ the entirety of the Falcon is engulfing her now, _an energy,_ and yet her mind is calm and quiet, the humming of the engines is still very much present in the background, but not heard. _A Force._

***

Poe rounds the corner of the hallway, headed to the fresher, with a datapad in one hand before looking up and stopping dead in his tracks. 

His eyes widen and mouth parts slowly as he stares at Rey - levitating no more than a half meter off the floor, deep in meditation. 

A moment (or three) later he swallows, regaining his composure and heads back to the main hold, never making it to the fresher and thankful Rey was facing the inside of the engine room with her back toward him in the hallway.

***

Rose’s eyes open slowly. She’s lying somewhere soft, in a ship of some kind judging by the ceiling above her. She slowly begins to take in her surroundings until her eyes reach Finn slouched back in a chair across the room. 

“Finn…?”

“Rose?” His eyes open immediately. “Rose! You’re awake, thank goodness!” 

“What happened, the last thing I remembered was us...?” Rose sits up in the bunk, shaking her head, still trying to get her bearings. 

“Woah woah slow down!” Finn cautions, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You were injured trying to stop the First Order remember?”

“Where are we?” Rose asks still with an unsure look on her face. 

“We are onboard the Millennium Falcon with what’s left of the Resistance.”

“So we did escape…” her voice trails up as she looks up at him. 

She has a searching look on her face, and her mouth opens several times like she wants to say something. Maybe it was a combination of nearly dying, physical exhaustion, and the general _situation_ she found herself in with Finn prior to all this, but for perhaps the first time in her life, Rose can’t find words right now.

Finn takes her hand in his, “It’s ok, I’m here.” She smiles at him as he turns their joined hands, leans down and presses a kiss against her hands. “I’m not going anywhere” 

***

News of Rose waking up was well received throughout the Falcon. Poe was relieved to not have another regret on his long list. Rey was initially nervous meeting Rose for the first time after seeing how much Finn cared for her, but after learning Rose was a fellow mechanic, the two quickly hit it off. 

The reunions and levity was short lived however, as the Falcon pulled out of hyperspace and began to make its descent toward Naboo. It was not long until the Resistance found themselves back in the main hold, gathered around Leia, D`Acy, Connix and Poe. 

“We are going to land a few kilometers outside Theed, the capital of Naboo,” started Leia. “Our objective is to repair the Falcon and make contact with Queen Soruna. She is an old friend who I have no doubt will help us the best she can.”

The group around Leia stood up a bit straighter with the news they were seeking aid from the Queen. “Unfortunately, the First Order have effectively declared martial law throughout the capital and the Queen is under constant surveillance.”

“Why can’t things ever be easy?” whispers Finn. Rey nearly chokes out a laugh, catching herself just in time.

“Poe,” Leia says as he stands up straighter at the sound of his name, “and Connix will head into the city and pass a message to the Queen and try to secure any aid she can provide. The rest of us will set up camp on the Falcon and try to work on fixing this ship. Now that Corporal Tico has regained her strength, I’m hopeful between her, Chewie and Rey, we can make the necessary repairs.” Rey and Rose smile at each other over the vote of confidence. 

Leia continues, “D`Acy and I will continue to try to make contact with the remaining Resistance cells.” After pausing for a few moments and seeing several nods, she concludes “Maybe the Force be with us.”

As far as plans go, it’s not Poe’s favorite. His reluctance is not because they are going to be rendezvousing with an unknown contact, in an unknown location, to try to receive aid from a Queen, in a city with First Order troopers every 5 meters and his face no doubt on several most-wanted lists. Hell, he volunteered to go on this mission (much to the pleasure of the General for some reason) and has run way crazier and riskier missions than this before. 

Travel to some obscure planet? _Check._ Meet up with a contact to acquire the one item the entire military strength of the First Order and its Supreme Leader would kill for? _Check._ Escape a Star Destroyer after being tortured only to crash back on said obscure planet? _Check._ Yep, he’s been here, done this before. 

No, his hesitation was the General’s insistence that Connix join him. It wasn’t that Poe didn’t trust or respect Connix as an officer or member of the Resistance, nothing could have been further from the truth, it was just that this was going to be dangerous and he wasn’t comfortable putting Kaydal on such a risky mission given her lack of field experience.

_“One military aged man wandering in the city will draw too much attention,” Leia maintained. “It will be much safer if Connix goes with you. A man and woman together will draw less suspicion.”_

_“Well why doesn’t Rey come with me then?” Poe said instinctively, tensing up a second later after realizing the implication towards Connix. “No offense, in case we run into trouble in the city, it wouldn’t hurt to have a Jedi right?”_

_Connix does not seem at all disturbed at the implication that Rey would better suited for the task, instead she looks rather relieved, for a moment at least..._

_Leia sighs. “I would indeed prefer to send Rey, but she is needed back here on the Falcon to help with the maintenance. So unfortunately for both you and Kaydal, you are going to have tough this one out.”_

As much as he hated to admit it, the General was right (she usually was), it would be safer for the both of them together rather than just him alone _._ And Rey might have been better for the mission into Theed, but the overall plan needed her skills more to repair their only available ship. That doesn’t mean he has like it though, or not be nervous about Connix’s safety. 

_Too bad we don’t have more than one kick-ass Jedi, pilot, mechanic around,_ Poe thought. 

***

Connix and Poe successfully make their way into the city without drawing the attention of the First Order. The General was not kidding though, the First Order was everywhere. It was hard to believe that this was the capital city of Naboo, the streets were nowhere near the bustling avenues of energy you would normally associate with a city the size of Theed. 

“This way,” led Connix as she tugged on Poe’s arm, directing him towards a group buildings on the edge of the market just outside the royal palace. The General had given them a location to meet her contact, along with a bonafide (a small intricate medallion of some kind) to signal they were from her. After snaking their way through the streets for another minute, Connix finally stopped.

“Wait this can’t be right…” said Connix, looking up from her datapad at the building in front of them.

“Oh yes, yes it is” grinned Poe. Their rendezvous location was, in fact, a cantina. 

Given the blind nature of the meeting and the fact their contact wasn’t expecting them, a cantina was the perfect location, they could easily loiter for hours without anyone really taking much interest. He looked down at Connix to see a nervous expression on her face. “No worries, I’ve done this a hundred times,” he said reassuringly before motioning her forward to follow him inside.

“That’s kinda what I’m afraid of…” she whispered in a voice low enough Poe couldn’t hear. 

The second Poe and Connix entered the cantina they were greeted with a soft melody of music playing in the background. He scanned the room for a few seconds before placing a hand on her back and leading her over to bar. As far as cantina’s go, this one was pretty tame, which probably had something to do with the few hundred First Order troopers outside. 

“A shot of Corellian rum for me and a Bespin Fizz for the lady,” waved Poe towards the bartender. 

“Should we really be drinking on a mission?” she whispered, concern still spread wide across her face. 

“Absolutely.” 

He was smiling, but she took notice of his eyes, still intense and scanning the room, “It will look weird if we are in a cantina and not drinking. Relax. Breathe. Just sip very slowly.” 

He took out the medallion the General gave him and began fidgeting with it in his hands and on the bar counter. A minute later the bartender returned with their drinks and Poe guided them into a small booth in the corner of the cantina. 

They sat there sipping their drinks, watching the cantina patrons while Poe continued to fidget with the medallion on the booth’s table. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes. Connix lost count of how much time had passed, nervously checking her chronometer before looking up and meeting Poe’s eyes. He gave a short smile. He could tell she didn’t like the uncertainty of their mission, but she was holding up pretty well given the circumstances.

“...Excuse me, but I think you have something that belongs to me.”

They both looked up to find an older man, probably in his 60s, standing next to their booth. Poe could tell instantly the man had military training. The man’s shoulders were back and while his face was relaxed with a drink in his hand, the way he was standing, one leg facing them and another to the side so his body was slightly turned, was a dead giveaway. 

“Sorry, I don’t think so friend. This…” holding up the medallion, “...was my mother’s.” 

Of course it didn’t actually belong to Poe’s mother, Leia had just given him that challenge phrase in order to identify their contact. 

“And a wonderful woman she was indeed” the man replied. Connix looked at Poe and he nodded, acknowledging the counter challenge phrase. 

“Would you care to join us?”

“Thank you” said the man as he sat down next to Connix and across from Poe. “The name is Korro...and you must be in real trouble if Princess Organa sent you here.”

Poe nodded. “Poe, Kaydal” he responded pointing at each of them respectively.

“Poe…?” Korro inquired, his voice trailing off waiting for a response.

“Dameron”

Korro gives a short nod, something clearly churning in his thoughts. Leaning into the booth and speaking more softly, he continued, “Given the rumors I’ve heard about the Resistance lately, I’m surprised you made it here.”

As they spoke further, Poe and Connix learn that Korro was Queen Soruna’s former head of security. He had met the General years ago after the battle of Endor, during the liberation of Naboo. Although retired now, Korro still had many friends in the royal security force and agreed to pass a message to the Queen for them - asking for any aid she could provide, preferably ships of any kind.

Korro needed time to pass the message and await its return reply, so he gives Connix a two-way communicator he will use signal them when to meet back here at the cantina. Shortly afterwards, he takes his leave.

Unsure how long this will take and not wanting to miss their rendezvous, Poe and Connix decide to stay at a hostel in the city rather than taking the 2+ hour speeder bike trip back to the Falcon outside the city. Neither of them love the idea, but they figure they have a better shot at blending into Theed’s population than constantly coming in and out of the city as travelers - less First Order checkpoints.

“Alright, let’s find somewhere to crash,” Poe states as he stands up from the booth and nods toward the exit.

Connix follows suit, “Yeah, I’m exhausted.” 

All things considered, the mission had gone pretty smoothly so far and Connix had done well enough despite her inexperience. Compared to Poe’s normal past assignments after all, at least they weren’t being shot at. With a little _(a lot) of_ luck, he hoped that would continue to remain the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get right to it...I saw TROS last night and hated almost everything about it. For me, TROS wasn't just bad in the context of the current trilogy, the past trilogies, or even Star Wars as a whole, it was just a plain bad story with a terrible plot, pacing and poor character development. It was honestly the first Star Wars movie I actually actively dislike. My head still hurts thinking about it and I could rant on for several pages...but I digress...
> 
> I wrote the initial outline and first few chapters for this fic after TLJ. I'm a big Star Wars fan so my intention was to try to be as faithful to the cannon and lore as I could. Now that TROS is out and given my feelings for it, I've essentially resigned myself that this fic is going to have to be nearly fully cannon divergent. I will most likely still take one or two small things from TROS I liked to keep some semblance of cannon faithfulness, but the big question I'm wrestling with is what to do with Rey as I'm conflicted with how much from TROS I should or should not include. (Not to worry, this will still very much be a Damerey fic.)
> 
> Because of all of this, I've decided to do some some major re-working to my initial plan for this fic. I will probably post another chapter next week but these next few chapters may continue to be a bit scattered as I try to figure out where this is supposed to go and how to get there.
> 
> That's about all I'm going to say because I promised no spoilers, but please do leave thoughts and comments (spoiler free for others if possible) as I'd love to have additional input.


	3. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Finn try being patient. Poe and Connix reconnect with Korro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter as an early Christmas present. This one just kept going and going, probably due to my therapy writing, so my apologies in advance. No worries, we will see Poe and Rey will back together next chapter. 
> 
> I've also had a lot more time to unpack my thoughts and feelings about TROS beyond my initial reactions and where this fic is headed...a lot more on that below. (No spoilers, still safe)

“Gah!” Rey jumps back as sparks shoot out of the panel she had been working to repair.

She’s currently in a floor compartment of the Falcon working on some engine wiring with Finn and BB-8’s help. In reality, it’s BB-8 doing the helping while Finn just kinda sits, watches and provides time-passing conversation. Rey takes off her safety goggles to reach over and take a drink from the canteen on the floor above her. 

It’s not going well. They received a mind numbingly short coded communication from Poe and Connix on the day they left for Theed: _Need more time._

It’s been three days since then and they have not heard a word from Poe and Connix, a fact that has everyone aboard the Falcon on edge as a result. Rey was frustrated initially, she doesn’t like ambiguity, but Finn explained to her that Poe and Connix couldn’t risk regular coded transmissions because it increased the likelihood the transmissions could be intercepted by the First Order. 

As much as she hated the First Order, she had to hand it to them, their strategy was brilliant. Fear, surveillance and control of communication channels was one way to bring a city to its knees without even having to fire a blaster. Of course, having a few thousand troopers, tanks, TIEs, and other machines of war didn’t hurt.

“You okay over there?” Finn asks. 

“Yea just fried a wire, nothing major.” Rey had been working to repair the Falcon non-stop to keep herself busy, and much to the chagrin of Leia and Finn, barely stopping to sleep or eat. “The Falcon is still in such bad shape Finn, I just don’t know if we can get all these repairs done without spare parts.” 

“Not to worry, I’m sure Poe and Connix will be back soon”

Rey sighs, “That’s what you said yesterday. And the day before that.”

“And I’ll say it again tomorrow if they’re not back by then,” he laughs.

BB-8 beeps in agreement: [Master Poe always comes back!]

“That he does BeeBee” acknowledges Finn. “And who knows, maybe Poe and Connix decided to take on the entire First Order battalion in the city themselves. Would certainly make things a lot easier for us.”

Rey lets out a short laugh and rolls her eyes before putting her goggles back on and returning to the panel wiring. “Yea well, if they aren’t back soon, and hopefully with some supplies, we’re going to have to start stripping some of the Falcon’s non-essential systems for these repairs.” 

BB-8 rolls over and hands her a new wiring cap. [Savior Rey: Which systems are non essential, I will begin to power them down!]

“You can start with the Dejarik table BeeBee” calls Finn with a grin on his face. Rey looks at him sternly, a fact he can tell even with her safety goggles on by her disapproving body language.

“As I said, let’s wait another day or two for Poe to return before doing anything so rash.” 

BB-8 beeps affirmatively.

 _The last thing we need is to be stuck on the Falcon with a grumpy Chewie_ , she thought with a smile.

***

On their fourth day in Theed, Poe and Connix finally receive the signal from Korro to meet back at the cantina. They arrive early, order drinks and find their way to a booth. Connix looks up at Poe who seems more on-edge then when they first arrived. 

“What’s going through your head?” she asks.

He takes a sip of his Corellian rum. “Wasn’t expecting to be here this long.”

“Do you think this is a trap?”

Poe shakes his head. “No. The General trusts Korro and that’s good enough for me.” He takes another sip of his drink, scanning the cantina. “I’m more worried about everyone back on the Falcon. They are counting on us and this is going to be a lot of time wasted if we aren’t able to get the help we need.”

They sit there waiting for another hour or so before Poe spots Korro enter the cantina. As he makes his way over to Poe and Connix, they realize Korro isn’t alone. Following behind Korro is a woman who looks about 10 years younger, most likely in her early 50s, dressed in a navy blue cloak with light skin and dark black hair pulled back into a bun.

Poe gets up, allowing them access to his side of the booth. Korro lets the woman enter first before sliding in next to her. As Poe sits back down next to Connix and across from Korro, he nods toward the woman and asks, “Who is this?”

“A friend,” Korro says without elaborating further. 

“So…” Poe continues, not liking the answer but deciding to roll with it anyway, “Were your friends in the security force able to get in touch with the Queen? Can she help us?”

They sit in silence for a moment, waiting for Korro’s response. Poe is surprised when the woman speaks instead, “The Queen can provide you supplies for your ship, rations for your fighters...and two N-1 starfighters.”

Poe and Connix look at each other for a moment in shock. This is definitely not what they were expecting. 

“That’s fantastic!” Poe replies. He doesn’t know why he was so worried earlier, of course the Queen was able to come through for them. It never ceases to amaze him how much loyalty Leia has inspired in her friends over the years. Whether it’s her oldest and closest friends or an ally made on the battlefield for one night, the General’s ability to inspire and bring out the best in people is unmatched. 

Korro leans in, “I’ll need coordinates to your ship so our people can get the fighters to you. The fighters are outside the city at one of our old decommissioned bases. The supplies are here in the city though, so you’ll need to take them back yourself.”

Connix smiles, “Not a problem. Thank you so much.”

“Yes, thank you.” adds Poe. “Please do give the Queen our gratitude. General Organa can’t thank her enough. It really means the world to us.” 

Korro looks at the woman again, who nods after a moment. He stands up and holds out his hand toward the exit, “Kaydal, can you come with me so I can get the coordinates of your ship to my people?” She looks at Poe nervously, unsure if she should comply. 

“Not to worry dear,” the woman reassures, “I’d just like a word with Mr. Dameron for a few minutes.” Connix still doesn’t look very reassured and Poe can tell she isn’t comfortable going alone without him. He’s not sure what the woman wants with him specifically, but they did come through with the supplies. Poe stands up to let to let Connix out and nods her, “It’s fine, go ahead with Korro, I’ll be out in a minute.” 

Korro leads Connix outside the cantina while Poe sits back down in the booth, facing the woman in front of him. “So…” he says, his voice trailing off as he downs the rest of his rum, “...what did you want to talk about?”

The woman looks at him pensively, the silence between them making him uncomfortable. She has a look on her face the General gets sometimes, like you can’t tell what she’s thinking but it feels like she’s looking directly into your soul and she knows you and your thoughts better than you know yourself. It’s a gut-wrenching look that makes you want to just go hide, and one Poe has gotten frequently from the General in the past. 

“I knew your mother, Shara Bey, Mr. Dameron.” the woman says plainly after a few moments.

“Wait w-what?!”

“She was an excellent pilot...” the woman continues, seemingly unfazed by the confused expression on his face, “...a fantastic mother and a good friend.” 

Poe is disoriented and waves his hand, trying to get his bearings, “Ok, hold on, hold on...how did you know my mother?”

Another minute of silence passes between them before the woman responds.

“My name is Sosha. Queen Sosha Soruna.”

Poe nearly falls out of the booth. He’s completely lost it. His face no doubt looking utterly dumbfounded just staring at this woman, _no the Queen_ , in front of him. He’s trying to form words and sentences but his mind is racing. He reaches towards his neck and begins to fidget with the ring underneath his shirt. 

Sosha, for her part, picks up on his shock and rescues him from the awkward silence. “Your mother helped in the liberation of Naboo after the Battle of Endor. That is how we met. You were only two years old at the time, but she always spoke proudly of her son, you, Poe Dameron.” 

“Thank you...” he responds, trying to regain some composure “...your majesty. I really appreciate that.” Poe never got to know his mother well and while he grew up with plenty of stories about her from his father Kes, Leia and their friends, he never knew his mother had made the acquaintance of the Queen of Naboo! 

“Please, call me Sosha. You mother was a true friend to me and the people of Naboo, and that extends to you as well.”

Unsure what to say, he simply nods in return. 

“I’m sure you’ve probably heard this before, but you have her eyes, you know,” a wide smile opens on Sosha’s face. “I can see it...the same spirit in you. Keep your friends close, Poe, live, love and trust in the Force. Do give Leia my love, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help.”

He shakes his head, trying to hold it together, “No, thank you...truly. And thank you for telling me about my mother I...I really appreciate it.” He manages short smile for her and Sosha nods in acceptance. 

“We should be leaving now,” she says as she stands up, “Your friends are probably worried and you need to get those supplies back to them.”

Poe also stands, following her lead, “If I may ask, how did manage to get out of the palace undetected? I thought the First Order was watching you?”

“When Korro’s message reached me, that friends of Leia were here and needed assistance, and one of them was the son of Shara Bey, I knew I had to meet you in person.” Sosha smiles. “And I’d like to think I know my own city better than the First Order does.” she adds with a wink. 

Poe shakes his head, ever more impressed with ~~the Queen~~ Sosha and follows her outside to reconnect with Connix and pick-up the supplies. 

***

“General, we just received a coded communication from Connix,” announces D`Acy. 

Leia, Finn, Rey, and BB-8 make their way over towards D`Acy at the communication station they had previously setup. BB-8 arrived first and began spinning circles at the commander’s feet beeping inquisitively: [What about Master Poe? Is Master Poe alright?]

Finn, Rey and Leia arrived a second a later.

“Don’t worry BeeBee, I’m sure he’s fine” smiled Rey. “He _is_ fine, right?”

Leia looks at them like a mother would two impatient children. “What’s the message Commander?”

D`Acy straightens up before continuing, “Connix says they were able to secure supplies and two starfighters from the Queen. The starfighters will be here in thirty minutes, courtesy of friends in the royal security force. Meanwhile, Poe and Connix are picking up the supplies and should be back here in the next 2 hours or so.”

“That’s fantastic, I knew they would come through and be back soon!” exclaims Finn, bumping Rey’s shoulder teasingly. 

“Oh switch off” she laughs, rolling her eyes at him as Finn gives her a hug. BB-8 spins around happily at the news.

“Very good, thank you Commander.” Leia for her part, still has a serious look on her face. 

“Rey, please go get Rose. Tell her what is happening. I would like you and Rose to run a full inspection of the fighters once they arrive. We don’t know what shape they will be in and I’d rather not discover their efficacy in the line of fire.” Rey nods in understanding and heads off to find Rose. 

“Finn,” Leia continues looking over towards him. “Go find Chewie, tell him we have supplies coming and to be prepared to make any necessary remaining repairs once they arrive.”

“Yes, General” 

Leia stays seated there next to D`Acy deep in thought. The news was good. Really good. But for some reason she couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling...

_“Hold it right there, let’s see some identification.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the notes of my last chapter, I said I hated nearly everything about TROS. After spending A LOT of time thinking about it, and writing my way through it, my opinions on TROS have shifted. Don't get me wrong, I still think it has a bad plot with breakneck pacing, and way too much fan service. My shift in feelings however, is centered around my feelings about Rey. 
> 
> In my opinion and understanding of her character, Rey has had an excellent character arc throughout TFA, TLJ and even through most of TROS. I don't agree with how some of that was executed, but even those parts that didn't work for me at the story execution level, were still mostly true to what I believe Rey's character arc to be/should be throughout the sequel trilogy. What I have a major problem with, however, is how TROS ultimately concludes Rey's story, and I don't necessarily mean that in the literal sense of the last scene in the film. (Although I did have an issue or two with the scene.)
> 
> I will steal this blurb from K.M. Weiland, author of the book Creating Character Arcs: "Character evolution is at the heart of any good story. Whether it’s the protagonist doing the changing, or whether the protagonist is changing the minor characters, character arcs are ultimately the whole point of fiction. The change—the journey from one spiritual/emotional/intellectual place to another—is the story of humanity."
> 
> TROS fails for me because it fails what I believe to be Rey's character arc. Rey is the protagonist of this story (the trilogy) and I don't believe the story allowed her to fully change in the way I believe was needed to complete her character arc. In some instances, I would argue parts of TROS actually regress Rey as a character - which is a shame because I do think there are very good (albeit poorly executed) parts for her in the film as well. All my other issues with the film, story/plot decisions, other characters, and by extension this trilogy, are secondary to this fundamental point. 
> 
> I think this is best illustrated in review comments I've read where people are asking/complaining what was the real point of this sequel trilogy beyond putting out films to make money. To borrow again from Weiland: "The Climax is the reason for the story. This is where the author reveals what the journey the character just endured was really all about—and, in a Positive Change Arc, why that journey has turned out to be worth all the heartaches and trauma."
> 
> Thanks for putting up with my ramblings...


	4. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Connix make it back to the Resistance camp outside Theed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone. Here's a (Hopefully) nice fluff chapter as my gift to you.
> 
> Poe PoV / Rey PoV / Rey PoV

“Hold it right there, let’s see some identification.” 

Poe and Connix turn to see a Stormtrooper Sergeant looking directly at them as a half dozen additional troopers come closer around their speeder. 

After leaving the cantina, they had made their way to a small house on the other side of the city to pick-up the supplies Korro and Sosha had promised them. The supplies included food rations, general spare parts, tools, and even a few blasters for good measure. After packing the supplies into their speeder, specifically hiding the blasters out of sight, they were on their way out of Theed, at least until being stopped by this Stormtrooper Sergeant just as they managed to cross the city gates. 

“ _Kriff_ ” muttered Poe, giving Connix a look in the passenger's seat. ”I got this.” 

“I said, let’s see some identification and what is all this?” the Sergeant repeats, his men still standing around them.

“Of course Sergeant,” Poe responds, getting out of the speeder and taking several steps towards him, away from the speeder. “My sister and I are just on our way to drop some supplies off to our father outside the city. Here is our identification.” 

The Sergeant takes his identity cards and begins to scan them. Poe looks back at Connix and knows there is almost no way this is going to work. They had rushed into Theed almost immediately upon landing on Naboo and Connix hadn’t had time to fully backstop their cover for a full scan. The look on her face now scares him, it’s one of pure dread and he’s cursing himself for getting her into this mess.

The scan is seconds away from finishing and Poe begins to slowly move his right hand up to the inside of his jacket while keeping eye contact with Connix. He holds the palm of his left hand down towards the ground, praying to the Maker she understands what he’s trying to tell her. _Please let this work._

 _Beep-Beep._ “Hey this…”

“GET DOWN!” Poe yells at Connix while reaching into his jacket and taking out an object -- a flash grenade. He brings his arm up and covers his eyes with the inside of his elbow and detonates the grenade before the Stormtroopers can react. Although disoriented and unable to aim, the troopers begin to fire their blasters. No one ever said Stormtroopers cared about collateral damage after all. 

Poe runs back towards the speeder and jumps into the driver's seat. _Thank the maker_ , he thinks when he sees Connix still next to him, head down in the seat and scared for her life. He slams down the accelerator and the speeder zips away. 

They sit in silence for a few moments until they are a few kilometers outside the city. “That was crazy!” Connix screams.

“Yeah.” Poe tries to look behind them to see if any of the First Order troopers are following them but lets out a growl instead, “URG.”

Connix looks over to him, “Oh my god, Poe you were hit!” 

In his mad dash back to the speeder, his left arm appears to have been hit by one of the Stormtroopers’ stray blaster shots. The initial adrenaline rush of their escape must have masked the pain, but now warm blood was starting to ooze out of the wound as a sharp pain shot across his upper limb near his tricep. Connix is looking at him unsure what to do.

“I-I'm fine” he winces, trying to reach for the emergency bacta patch they had packed in their rucksack at her feet. 

Connix shakes herself out of shock and leans down to rucksack, “Here let me, focus on driving.” The last thing they needed is to die because Poe crashed their speeder. She finds the bacta patch unwraps it and hands it to him. 

“Just keep a watch on the scanner in case they are following,” he says through his teeth as he applies the bacta patch to the wound, wincing again. 

Poe tries to press the accelerator down further until he realizes he’s had it on the floor this whole time. _This is going to be one long (and painful) ride back to Falcon._

***

The N-1 starfighters arrived at their camp just as expected and Rey and Rose had been working on inspecting the ships with BB-8’s help for the past hour and a half.

“You know, these fighter’s aren’t half bad.” Rose states as she sits in the cockpit of one of the starfighters checking its onboard computer systems. “Yes they are small, but their acceleration and maneuverability must be fantastic.” 

[Affirmative Friend Rose!], beeped BB-8, [The class N-1 Naboo Starfighter manufactured by the Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps was designed with maximum aerial agility in mind.]

“The proton torpedoes add some nice firepower as well,” notes Rey as she works on the engine of the other ship. The starfighters were in pretty remarkable condition all things considered. There was barely any wear on them and all the major systems seemed to operate as expected, leaving only preventative maintenance left for her and Rose to complete. 

Rey looks up as she begins to hear a commotion building on the other side of camp and across the Falcon. Before she can see what’s going on, one of Leia’s aides is running at them hands waving, “Poe and Connix are back!”

[Master Poe!] beeps BB-8 and the droid zips off at lightning speed, causing Rey to laugh in amusement.

“Alright!” Rose cheers, jumping out of the cockpit. Rey similarly puts down her tools before they both follow across camp, no doubt toward where they will find Poe and Connix.

They have to snake their way through a small crowd that has gathered around Poe and Connix. Poe is propped up, leaning against the speeder for support. Connix is to his right and the General stands in front of her, no doubt taking in the Lieutenant’s initial report. BB-8 is whirling circles around them beeping incoherent praises for them both. 

Finn is standing slightly to Poe’s left, his back towards them as Rose and Rey make their approach.“Welcome back Poe!” exclaims Rose as she makes her way to him and standing next to Finn. “Wow that looks ugly.”

It’s not until Rey also makes her way fully into his view does she see what Rose was referring to - the clearly rushed bacta patch adhered to Poe’s upper left arm near his tricep, dried blood pooled around the injury. 

“Gee thanks Rose,” he teases with a grin on his face before turning to Rey. 

For a moment she stands there, unsure what to say, until a short smile comes across her face and she simply asks, “ _So.._ it went well huh?”

“Oh you know - _great._ ”

“Sure looks like it.”

“We got the supplies didn’t we?”

“And a little bit more,” Rey adds, nodding at his arm.

“Hey we only got shot at once.“

“Is that a new record for you?”

Poe rubs the back of his neck, “I’ve honestly stopped keeping track.” 

“Pretty sure that’s not a good thing.”

Poe shrugs and Rey laughs, the grin still on his face until he winces in pain again. 

Leia seems to pick-up on this because she turns and toward the small crowd that had gathered around them, “Alright people that’s enough, back to work.” 

She turns and nods to Poe “And _you_ \-- get yourself over to med supply and cleaned up.” They don’t have any doctors or medics with them, but Leia had insisted they still set up a medical supply station in case of emergencies. Poe straightens up like he’s about to protest, but before he is able to get the opportunity she waves her hand cutting him off, “Save whatever excuse you have Commander, I don’t want to hear it. You look like crap.”

Connix, Finn, Rose and Rey burst out laughing at the defeated look on his face. He never stood a chance. 

“Common buddy” Poe says with a nod toward BB-8 as he begrudgingly begins to head to med supply. He gives the General a faux-salute on his way for good measure, causing Leia to grin, clearly satisfied with herself. 

[No worries Master Poe, we’ll fix you good as new!] beeps BB-8, zipping along to follow him in admiration.

“Rey go with him,” adds Leia after he gets no more than 3 paces away. “Make sure he gets that damn wound changed properly.”

Poe stops, raises his right arm above his shoulder and gives her a thumbs up behind his back, _clearly_ thankful the General has decided he also now needs supervision. Connix, Finn, Rose and Rey burst out laughing again while Rey takes a few quick steps to catch up to Poe as they head to med supply.

***

When they get to the medical supply station, Poe retrieves a case from the closet, pulls up a chair and begins to dig through it, placing various items on the table in front of him. 

Rey isn’t sure what to do, so she just stands there as he begins to slowly remove the old bacta patch, cringing when the pain flares up. She still doesn’t know Poe well and she doubts he actually wants her help. He is a grown man after all. She winces herself as he finishes pulling off the the bacta patch.

“I’m fine,” he sighs, a gash now showing through the hole left in his shirt. It looks pretty bad to her, and it must have been showing on her face, because he adds, “Really, I’m fine -- can you sit?” motioning toward another chair across the room. “You’re making me nervous just standing there.” 

“Sorry” Rey apologizes as she turns to get the other chair, trying to defuse was she believes to be the awkwardness of the situation.

Poe begins unbuttoning his shirt to get a clean view of the injury, making painful faces as he tries to extract his arm out of the sleeve while part of the fabric still sticks to his skin. “So, what’s been happening here since we’ve been away?”

Rey pulls the chair up on his left and sits down, watching as Poe is able to remove his shirt and fully expose the wound now. He is wearing a black tank-top and a silver chain hangs around his neck, catching Rey’s eye. She can’t see the chain’s pendant as it is tucked under his tank-top but it makes a circular indent beneath the shirt.

“Not much, just working on repairs and trying not to go insane from being stuck in the camp or on the Falcon.” 

Poe reaches for a set of tweezers on the table and begins to peel off pieces of fabric that are still adhered to his skin. 

BB-8 wheels forward in the space between them: [Yes, Master Poe! Savior Rey is a most excellent mechanic!] 

He looks up, his eyes meeting hers, “Is she now?” 

Rey shrugs with a slight smile, BB-8 beeps out affirmative praises and Poe lets out a chuckle before returning to his arm. 

She watches him for several more minutes as he continues to work, both content to just sit in silence. When he’s finished, Poe holds his forearm up, trying to inspect his handiwork. He’s done a pretty good job removing the fabric from the burn all things considered. Unfortunately, she can still see a piece or two left on the underside of his tricep.

“Here let me” Rey interjects, holding out her hand for the tweezers. 

“It’s fine” he protests. “It’s not that bad. I’ll just...”

She frowns, “Like hell it is, that’s going to get infected, and then what would the General say? _”_

Poe raises his eyebrow before a grin appears on his face, finally surrendering the tweezers. “Well...we wouldn’t want to disappoint the General would we?”

Rey rolls her eyes at him. “BB-8 do you mind?” 

The droid beeps affirmatively and rolls out of the way as Rey takes the tweezers and pulls her chair closer to him, no more than a foot between them now. Poe shifts, still facing the table in front of him, but turning his arm so she can get a better view. 

Rey reaches out and grabs ahold of his forearm for leverage, leans in and begins to remove the last two pieces of seared fabric. Poe’s skin is warm to her touch and he has well-defined lean muscles...she shakes her head to clear her thoughts and returns to the task at hand. Rey is so focused that she doesn’t notice Poe equally studying her. After a minute, she releases her hand from his forearm and leans backward a bit. “Better.” 

He turns his arm over, checking for himself. “Thanks.”

BB-8 also beeps out in approval for Rey’s work, while Poe uses a disinfectant wipe to remove the remaining dry blood from his arm.

While he’s doing that, Rey instinctively reaches to her left and begins to take out a new bacta patch on the table. She unwraps it, and is about to grab Poe’s arm and apply it herself, when she stops for a second, a warm feeling rising to her face. _Should_ _probably_ _ask first…_

“May I?” 

“You’re already there, go ahead.” he nods with a laugh.

Slowly, she presses the patch against his arm and runs her hand over it several times to make sure its smoothed out. Staring at it for a few seconds, eventually satisfied with her work, Rey gives the patch a forceful smack.

“Ouch!” flinches Poe, “What was that about?”

Rey doesn't answer immediately, instead she stands up and moves to put her chair back. She takes two steps to leave before responding with a short smile over her shoulder:

“Just making sure you can still feel your arm, _Commander_.”


	5. Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Resistance receives news from Black Squadron.

_“Just making sure you can still feel your arm, Commander.”_

Poe can’t help but stare at Rey as she walks out of med supply - he has a look on his face like a teenager who has just been knocked over the head. 

He couldn’t help but notice the singular focus in Rey’s eyes earlier as she helped patch his arm. When she leaned in, she smelled like engine fuel and the forest, two of his favorite things. Her hands were somehow equally soft and calloused when they touched his skin. 

Poe shakes his head. No. Nope. _Stop it._ He’s injured, exhausted and clearly making something out of nothing. He was hurt and she’s a nice person who helped. Anyone would have done the same. That’s it - nothing more. He just needs a few hours sleep and he’ll be as good as new. 

“I need to hit the sack”

BB-8 wheels around: [Master Poe are you alright? Is Savior Rey’s patch not suitable? Should I go get her…]

“No, no, definitely not” chokes Poe waving his hand. “It’s great. Fine. Perfect. 

_Maker help me, I need sleep. Now._

“I’m just tired from the drive and the city buddy, why don’t you go find Finn and the others while I get a few hours of shut-eye.”

BB-8 beeps affirmatively as Poe desperately makes his way towards the Falcon in search of a quiet place and a bunk to lay down. 

This day was too long. 

***

Three days later Poe is sleeping in a bunk on the Falcon when BB-8 rolls in and gives him a small electric shock to wake up.

[Master Poe! Master Poe!]

“Ugh what…”

[Master Poe, the General says we have made contact with Black Squadron!]

“WHAT!” He jumps out of his bunk and begins to throw on his clothes. Snap, Suralinda, Karé, Jess - he hadn’t heard from Black Squadron since they left for the Outer Rim in search of allies, no one has. “Let’s go BB-8.”

BB-8 zips out of the room once Poe is finished and he runs after him. They arrive in the main hold to find everyone already there. 

“Commander” Leia says noticing him enter, “Thank you for joining us - we were just discussing this message we received from Captain Wexley.”

“Is he alright? Is Black Squadron alright?”

“Captain Wexley has informed us Black Squadron is in-route to Ikkrukk to respond to a distress call. He says we have allies on the planet, but they are about to be attacked by the First Order.” 

“When are we leaving?” Poe asks. 

The space between his question and Leia’s answer might have well been the entire galaxy. The silence between them left Poe with a feeling like he was about to be punched in the gut. He saw Rey and Finn exchanged nervous looks between one another while Connix could only look at the floor. Leia shakes her head. “We aren’t.”

“We aren’t? W..why not General?”

She sighs. “We only have three ships: the Falcon and the two starfighters. I can’t risk what’s left of the Resistance on one rescue mission.”

Poe looks like he’s run into a wall. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. Is this still the Resistance? He looks at Finn, Rose, and Rey, a sad but accepting look on each of their faces. _No. No._ This is not how this is supposed to go. Black Squadron needs them. His squadron needs _him._

“Well then send me” he blurts out. “I’ll take one of the starfighters, rendezvous with Snap and the rest of Black Squadron.” 

They are all staring at him now. He can tell they all think it’s a terrible idea. He’s had _a lot_ of bad ideas over the years, but this definitely doesn’t feel like one of them. Finn speaks first, “Poe, I know you care about them but you can’t go alone, that’s suicide man.”

“And everyone is ok with letting Snap, Suralinda, Karé, and Jess potentially head into a death trap alone?”

Rose interjects next, “But you don’t know that! You don’t know what you’ll be heading into.”

They don’t get it, none of them do, and how could they? None of them has ever flown in squadron before, putting yourself on the line for each other, day after day, mission after mission. Poe’s relationship with Finn, forged through fire, is probably the only thing anywhere near similar. He sighs, “Neither does Snap. At least with me there, their odds will be better.”

Rey steps toward him, “I can go with you. I can take the other fighter while everyone else stays with Falcon.” 

“ _Absolutely_ not.” Poe states vehemently, putting his hand on her shoulder. “The General is right and you are way too important.”

His eyes meet Rey’s, she opens her mouth to object but he drops his hand from her shoulder and makes his way to Leia, his mind made up. “I go alone,” he announces, not as a question but rather a statement of fact. Everyone stands there in silence for a few seconds, unsure what to say or do as Poe and the General continue to exchange looks. 

“I’d like to speak with Commander Dameron, alone please.”

Finn, Rose, Connix and the others begin to file out of the main hold. Rey pauses, looking back at Poe and Leia for before leaving as well. When they are finally alone, Leia speaks.

“Why do you want to go Poe? Is this about trying to correct your mistakes?”

He sighs. “No, of course not. This is about our friends General. They need us, and we can’t abandon them. We are the spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down.” He is all fire now, pleading his case with a passion he didn’t know he had. “Back on Crait we called for help and no one came. This is our chance to lead by example. We need to show the galaxy there is still hope, and it starts right here, right now, with our friends and allies.”

They stay there in silence for several seconds until a small smile appears across Leia’s face.

“Good”

“Good?”

“Yes,” she waves. “Go find Rose and Rey. I want you to run a quick test flight in the N-1 starfighter first, just so you can get a feel for it and make sure their modifications are working. Afterwards, you can head to Ikkrukk to rendezvous with Black Squadron.”

He can hardly believe what he is hearing, he was expecting a much bigger fight over this. He didn't even want to think about what he would have done if she didn't agree. “Yes, Yes, thank you General!” Poe begins to race out to tell Rose and Rey.

Before he’s out of the room, Leia adds, “And Commander…” He stops and looks back at her, “Do come back safe. That’s an order.”

He gives her the biggest trademark Poe Dameron grin ever before saluting and running off.

***

“This has to be the dumbest plan ever,” announces Rey. 

Finn shakes his head. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Finn, Rose and Rey were prepping the fighter for Poe’s test flight. Neither of them were thrilled with the idea of letting Poe go help Black Squadron alone. Rey, in particular, was irked most of all. Maybe it was because Poe told her she couldn’t go or something else, but she had been complaining the whole time. “I mean really - what difference is one ship going to make if this turns out to be an ambush.”

“It will make all the difference in the world.”

She spins around to see Poe behind her in a flight suit, a big grin across his face. She rolls her eyes. “Yeah...well, I still think it's a dumb plan. Should at least have someone going with you.”

“Wouldn’t be my first, and I told you, we can’t spare another pilot, especially one as important as you.” Rey’s face unknowingly warms at his last comment as Poe climbs into the cockpit of the ship and begins pre-flight checks.

“Alright Dameron listen up,” announces Rose. “Rey and I have made some modifications to the ship to boost its firepower. We’ve also added a temporary auxiliary engine boost to take advantage of the ship’s small size and increased agility. It should give you a few seconds of increased speed when activated.”

Poe nods. “Fantastic.”

“But don’t use it,” interrupts Rey. “This is just a test flight so we can run diagnostics on the systems. No need to push it.” 

BB-8 beeps excitedly next to Finn, [Master Poe, let me join you!]

“Thanks buddy,” he laughs, finishing the pre-flight checks. “I should be ok without you, this just a quick test flight. You can join me for the real mission when we rendezvous with Snap and the others.”

Poe closes the hatch and gives the group a thumbs up before pushing down on the thrusters and taking the ship into the air. 

The ship flies extremely well for her age. Quick and agile, the N-1 was an excellent starfighter. While his heart would always first belong to an X-wing, he could see why this was favored on Naboo. The ship was also the second starfighter he has now flown that was also flown by his mother. As he begins to run through various aerial maneuvers, Poe still feels like something is off. He is just going through the motions, like he himself is on auto-pilot. 

Snap, Suralinda, Karé, Jess...they all needed him. He wasn’t going to help them by running through maneuvers any first year cadet at the Naval academy could do in their sleep, just so he could get cleared for this mission. They needed _him._ Poe Dameron. Ace. Black Leader. 

He grabbed the yoke and yanked back, taking the starfighter straight up in near full vertical ascent.

“What is Poe doing?” asked Finn, surprised at the quick change of direction. 

Rey shrugged, “I have no idea.”

They watched as the ship kept rising until it was out of sight.

***

An alarm in the starfighter goes off and Poe swings the fighter around just at the edge of the atmosphere. In a complete reversal, he pushes downward on the yoke, putting the ship into a full frontal descent, and slams the engine thrusters all the way down, 100% power. The fighter rockets back toward the planet at full speed, the sound of the engine letting out a burst in the sky. 

With his hands still on the yoke, Poe closes his eyes.

***

They hear it before they see him, a loud boom in the sky. Finn, Rose, Rey and BB-8 are looking upward, scanning for any sign of Poe.

“There!” Rey points as the N-1 starfighter finally comes into view, a small spec in the sky.

“What is he doing?” asks Rose nervously as she checks over her datapad readings for the ship’s diagnostics. The starfighter keeps accelerating downward with no sign of peeling off or slowing. “The ship is holding up, but he’s descending crazy fast.”

“Not to worry, Poe knows what he’s doing,” responds Finn. At least he hopes Poe knows what he’s doing. 

A nervous expression also takes to Rey’s face as the ship continued to descend. 

***

The starfighter keeps diving towards the surface at breakneck speed, shaking at the acceleration of full vertical free fall combined with maximum engine thrust. Surface warning alarms start to go off but Poe’s eyes remained closed, his hands steady on yoke but unmoving.

They need him. Black Squadron, Rey, Finn, Rose, Connix, D`Acy, Chewie, Leia, BB-8 and countless others. He can’t lose them. _I won’t lose them._

The alarms are calling out his altitude now as he continued to descend. Poe takes a deep breath in...

_What was it Leia said...your focus determines your reality?_

The ship is practically screaming at him now, every alarm going off and calling out his altitude well below a threshold any normally sane pilot would pull-up. Given his current speed and trajectory he is moments away from crashing into the ground. 

***

Rose is terrified and about ready to cry as tears begin to form at the edges of her eyelids. She’s holding onto Finn for dear life who isn’t doing much better.

“COME ON POE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!” Finn screams with a look on his face like he’s about three seconds away from completely losing it.

[Master Poe?!] BB-8 beeps loudly, zipping in circles around the group unsure what to do.

Rey doesn’t know what to think. She’s shocked, terrified, concerned, angry, and probably seven other emotions she can’t unpack right now as Poe seemingly continues to plummet to his demise. She breathes in trying to steady herself. 

***

Poe’s eyes shoot open like he has been hit with an electric shock.

_Focus._

Every nerve in his body is awake and heightened to eleven. He rips the yoke back with his hands, pulling up as hard as he can. The starfighter jerks so violently he wouldn’t have been surprised if it snapped in two right there. 

Rose, Finn, BB-8 and Rey stare in complete silence, like time itself has stopped and everything is happening in slow motion, none of them daring to move.

Poe is quite literally holding on for his life as the ship begins to level out. He’s grasping, growling in the cockpit. “Aaaaaaah...” Even through his gloves, his hands are burning while holding the yoke back desperately trying to pulling up. His injured arm hurts so much it feels like it's being trampled by a Bantha herd. 

_Focus._

He can’t be more than 20 meters off the ground at this point, the fighter almost level. _Focus._

_17...15…13..._

The fighter finally levels off, still racing dangerously close to the ground for a few seconds before Poe continues to pull up and slams down the temporary auxiliary engine thrusters (the ones Rey specifically told him not to use). The ship explodes back upward into the sky, leaving a burnt crater in the ground from the engines. 

“WOOO HOOO!” he screams.

***

After a few more minutes in the air, Poe has the ship landing slowly back on the ground a short distance from their temporary camp. Rose, Finn, BB-8 and Rey are running over toward him. The hatch of the starfighter kicks open as he takes off his helmet and jumps down, both feet hitting the ground with a thud. 

BB-8 is there first, zipping circles around Poe and beeping a mix of insults (for his stupidity) and praises (for his talents). “I love you too buddy!” he laughs, patting the droid on the head and adjusting his antenna. 

Rose reaches him next, hugging him. “Dameron, stop giving me heart attacks!” 

“That was lunacy, but what did I tell you!” exclaims Finn as he also embraces Poe, “Best Pilot in the Resistance right here!” 

Rey approaches him last, shaking her head with her hands on her hips and a short smile across her face. She is a mix of emotions. How could he be so stupid? Yes, that was probably the best flying she has ever seen, but she specifically told him not to do anything that reckless. First, he decides to go on this crazy mission alone, then he won’t let any of them help, and now he won’t listen to them. _Why was he so…so..._

“Nice flying,” she admits plainly. 

Poe grins, trying to read her face. “Thanks, you know…”

She takes another step toward him, reaches back, and punches him in his injured arm.

“OUCH!”

“Don’t do something that _stupid_ again,” Rey says as she storms off.

Finn, Rose and BB-8 keel over in laughter as Poe just stands there, the second time this week he’s been left with an expression on his face like he’s been knocked over the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you liked this chapter - it has been my personal favorite to write thus far! 
> 
> My inspiration for this chapter came from the [Leap of Faith scene](https://youtu.be/yoS74R-qKIY) from Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse :)
> 
> I have to do some traveling and family things over the weekend so my next update will be Monday or Tuesday. 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	6. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the quiet and solitude, Kylo Ren and Rey struggle to figure out their path forward and feelings toward one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: talk/thoughts of murder, semi-possessive thoughts, child stormtroopers, etc. I've upped this to mature just to be safe. 
> 
> I've also decided to change this fic...again. See after the chapter for details.
> 
> Kylo PoV / Rey PoV / Kylo PoV / Rey PoV

_Join me. Please._

Kylo Ren sits alone in his chambers aboard the First Order flagship. Since the Battle of Crait he’s been lost. He thought she understood. The Sith, Jedi, Republic, Empire, and Resistance, it was all in the past. Luke betrayed him. Snoke manipulated him. Generations of endless wars, innumerable deaths, and broken families - that was the legacy of all those ancient fossils. The galaxy could never know peace, could never be more, not while it clung to those old ideals. 

He was right. He knew it. It was time to let the past die. How can she not see it? Her own family abandoned her and left her to rot on some junk planet. She wasted the last 15 years of her life holding onto a lie. She was nothing, no one.

_But not to me._

The scavenger was the only one who didn’t look at him with the baggage of his past or the future Snoke had tried to create. She saw him for who he truly was, just him. He needs to make her to see, make her understand that they should be together; they are two children born into the series of lies, cheating and death that will rise up and break the cycle. They belong together.

He just doesn’t know _how_. 

So here he sits, alone in his thoughts while the fools outside play General. They are all idiots. Hux, Griss, Quinn and the others, constantly bickering over meaningless squabbles. Power hungry fools who could never wield true power for themselves so they hide behind others. If he had half a sense he would kill the lot of them just for being so pathetic. 

Kylo breathes in, trying to let go of his thoughts, trying to reach out. Trying to reach...her. 

***

Rey finishes putting the final touches on Luke’s lightsaber. She’s been reading the Jedi texts she took from Ahch-To and working on repairing the weapon every since they had left Crait. It’s been a slow process but it's finally done. She picks up the lightsaber and takes off outside of their camp and into the forest. The time had finally come to see if it worked. Rey prayed to whatever gods existed in the universe as she slowly switched on the lightsaber. _Pshwooosh._

The blade ignites, its blue glow slightly dimmer than before but there. Rey holds it up in fascination, inspecting her work. There is of course, only one way to know for sure if she was successful, it’s why she came out here after all. Rey begins to step through several paces, trying to get a sense of how the weapon feels in her hands again. 

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Something feels off. The saber is working, but it doesn’t feel the same in her hands. What had she done wrong? Maybe she damaged it somehow while repairing it? Maybe she couldn’t repair it fully? Maybe it’s not the saber, maybe it's her? Is she out of practice? 

“ARG!” Rey growls, frustrated at all the different possibilities that begin to form in her head. She begins to swing more violently now, putting her whole body into the motion. 

_Why isn’t this working?_

After another minute or two of practice, Rey flicks the saber off and takes a deep breath trying to steady herself. She decides she needs to spend more time meditating and practicing now that the saber is repaired. Hopefully that’s all this feeling is. Fortunately, Rey has plenty of time to do both. 

The Resistance remains camped on Naboo outside Theed. It’s not that they have anything keeping them on Naboo, it’s more that they don’t have a definitive path forward. Leia, Connix and D`Acy spend most days working at the communication station and pouring over logistic reports. They had made all the necessary repairs to the Falcon, but without a clear plan, it was decided staying put on Naboo would be the safer move.

Rose and Finn had grown closer during the “down” time and while Finn was still her best friend, it did make Rey feel a bit left out. As planned, Poe left for Ikkrukk two weeks ago with one of the starfighters to rendezvous with Black Squadron and took BB-8 with him, so now even Rey’s closest droid companion and his sometimes challenging master are no longer around. She had inquired about their progress several times, but Leia always gave her the same answer: no update and they weren’t expecting one. 

So here she sat on the ground in the forest, trying to clear her thoughts and calm her mind. How did she get into this mess This was supposed to be her friends, her family, but here she was, still with this hollow feeling of… _loneliness_... 

“I’m still here.”

Rey’s eyes jolt open and she spins around to see Ben Solo sitting on the ground. He is wearing his usual black garb and has a tired blank expression on his face.

“You…” she whispers, adjusting herself to sit directly opposite him.

“It appears our bond has survived Snoke’s death.” he responds plainly. 

“What do you want Ben?” 

His face goes rigid with anger for a moment, his eyes flickering with a fire. “Ben Solo is dead. I told you - it’s time to let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”

“ _What_ do you want?” she asks with more anger in her voice now as the memories of his actions begin to flood back to her: murdering the villagers on Jakku, torturing both Poe and herself, murdering his own father, nearly killing Finn, forcing Luke to sacrifice himself so they could escape, and those were just the start.

“I want what I offered back on the Finalizer. I want you to join me..” 

Rey’s face goes cold as she quietly replies, “I thought I made it clear, I will never join you. I will never join the dark side.”

He scours at her. “Dark, light, Jedi, Sith - these are just words. You think Luke cared about you? He wouldn’t train you. He abandoned me and lied to you.” Ben’s face is twisting now, purposefully being cruel. “You think this Resistance will be any better? They will feed you platitudes to your face while stabbing you in the back.”

Rey breathes in trying to steady herself, she can’t - she won’t - let him see weakness. “You’re wrong,” she says defiantly.

“No. I know the truth. For all their talk of freedom and peace, this path you’ve chosen will only end in your despair. The Resistance cannot bring about the change the galaxy needs, it will only cause more pain. But the First Order can. I can...” His voice shifts, still strong, but almost soft now. “...with _you_ by my side.”

“Together we can shape the galaxy the way it should be. No more children abandoned by their parents, no more hunger and want. It will be the way we want it.” He stands up and slowly holds out his hand, “Join me.”

Rey also stands, her eyes meeting his. 

“How can you believe that?” She is fighting back tears trying to show strength. “You would continue to slaughter thousands, enslave children to join your army, and commit countless other atrocities for some warped sense of galactic justice?”

He stands there for several more seconds without speaking, his hand still outstretched toward her. She doesn’t move either, not even the slightest twitch, as their eyes remain locked on one another, neither willing to back down.

“Very well” he sighs, dropping his hand to his side. “If you will not join me...”

“Ben please.” she whispers.

“Do NOT call me that name!” he screams, causing Rey to see the fire in his eyes yet again. When he finally calms his breathing he continues: “I will make you understand, make you see...and then you will join me.” 

And just like that he quickly turns from her and disappears, the connection severed. 

Rey stands there alone in the forest for what feels like an eternity trying to hold it together until she finally begins to head back to camp. _Leia will need to know about this_.

***

Kylo Ren knows what he needs to do now. 

After his discussion with the scavenger he storms out of his quarters and calls a meeting with all his generals, admirals and other First Order leaders. They sit before him now waiting for instructions.

“I know many of you have been wondering what is my plan for the First Order.” He looks over toward Hux. “Our end-goal will always remain the same, to bring peace and stability to the galaxy.” Kylo turns from the group now and looks out the window into space. “But I will be instituting some changes.”

The group exchanges a few nervous looks between one another before he continues.

“Any world who surrenders to us will be granted the full protection of the First Order. Any world who resists, no matter how insignificant, will be crushed.” The fire returns to his eyes now. “I want anyone who even thinks the word _resist_ to feel such pain that no one else would dare do the same.”

“And what of the Resistance Supreme Leader?” asks Hux. 

Kylo turns, full anger in his eyes, “I want every one of their friends and allies hunted down.” The rage is pouring out of him as he slams his fist down on the table. “I want every action they take, every person they try to help, every life they think they are saving to be paid back in dead bodies tenfold!”

He turns back toward the window, running his hands through his hair and breathing heavily. He’s almost whispering when he concludes, “I want the galaxy to see the Resistance are not the heroes they believe them to be.”

They sit there for a few moments before Admiral Griss comments, “Supreme Leader, if I may, how are we going to have the manpower for such a galaxy-wide operation? We only have so many subjects in our child training program and even then, it would take years for some of them to grow old enough to fight.”

“No. No children. Recruitment.”

“Sorry sir...what?” Griss asks.

Kylo looks over his shoulder, “Send out a recruitment notice to any able body citizens 16 years of age or older across the galaxy. The First Order is recruiting soldiers. Offer money, escape, freedom, food, and whatever else you have to. I want the galaxy to come to us begging.”

The generals and admirals exchange knowing looks. “Understood, very good Supreme Leader.”

He waves his hand dismissing them. “Leave,” he says as continues to look out the window into space.

_I will make her see._

***

It’s been one week since Rey’s rather unpleasant visit from ~~Ben~~ Kylo Ren. True to form, she did tell Leia about her conversation with Kylo when she got back to camp. The General was surprisingly calm as Rey tried to recount the conversation in as much detail as possible. When she finished, Leia simply asked to continue to keep her informed of any further visits she may have with Kylo via their connection. 

Rey has spent the majority of the days since then either deep in meditation or training to reclaim the feeling lost when she wields Luke’s lightsaber. Today was no different. She sat alone in the forest of Naboo trying to find peace, trying to feel the living Force around her until she could swear she heard it whispering back to her.

_Breathe. Just Breathe._

She was levitating off the ground, several rocks circling around her. She sat there for hours as the morning turned into afternoon. She was attuned to every emotion around her, every feeling, and yet still she tried reaching deeper. _How do I become a Jedi?_

_Breathe. Just Breathe._

Afternoon turned into evening and just when the sun was about to go down, she felt a familiar presence, a wave in the Force around her. Her eyes were still closed, but she knew how she must look and couldn’t help a short smile growing across her face. 

“And here I thought you said it’s not about lifting rocks?”

_“I was wrong.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After much consideration over the past few days, I've decided not to write this as a "fix-it" fic...at least for now. The reason for it is simple: as I continued to outline where I wanted this story to go, I kept feeling increasingly limited by my desire to work within as much of the existing cannon as possible. Furthermore, I have been making real progress on an AU idea which quite honestly I feel is more interesting and freeing from a story writing perspective. 
> 
> So rather than try to write two on-going fics at the same time, I'm going to wrap this up in the next week or two with one more chapter and conclude this as a narrative in-between TLJ and TROS within the cannon timeline. This way if I decide to come back and finish this story as a "fix-it," I will still be able to do so. Or, it can remain as a standalone story within the cannon timeline.
> 
> I will also include a final chapter with my thoughts and character breakdowns from TROS as I promised at the end of chapter 3. That analysis might spoil a future attempt at reviving this as "fix-it," but I feel like I owe it to all of you to at least give you a glimpse of where my head is at and for sticking with me through these last two emotional weeks. 
> 
> Thanks as always for reading, I really appreciate it!


	7. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey talks with Luke. Poe returns and comes to a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poe's dialog at the end of this chapter is a modified version of dialog from the Poe Dameron #31 comic which was written by Charles Soule. I do not own Star Wars or this dialog, and make no profit from this. I simply adapted the dialog to this story because I liked it. Please don't sue me Disney!
> 
> Rey PoV / Rey PoV / Rey PoV / Poe PoV

_“And here I thought you said it’s not about lifting rocks?”_

_“I was wrong.”_

“About the rocks?” Rey jokes. 

“No, of course not -- about everything else.”

Rey opens her eyes, rises to her feat, and turns to see Luke Skywalker standing before her. 

He doesn’t look like he did in life, he is more hallowed, a shimmering blue shadow-like presence. His Force signature is definitely alive though, Rey can feel him more vividly in the Force now then at any point during their time together on Ahch-To. His face looks tired but it has a warmth to it which was absent from any of their previous interactions. She shakes her head in disbelief at the man standing before her. “Master Skywalker.” 

He smiles at her. “Hello Rey of Jakku.”

Rey shifts her weight on her feet, she’s never communicated with a Force spirit(?) before. “How are you here? Why are you here?”

“The _how_ is through an ancient technique passed down by Jedi masters for generations. The _why_ is because you were searching the Force for guidance.” 

“The Force sent you here to help me?” she asks suspiciously.

Luke shakes his head with a laugh, “No dear child.”

She tilts her head, a confused look upon her face. “I don’t understand?”

“Do you remember what I taught you about the Force?” he asks.

Rey breathes in, closing her eyes and bringing herself back to that moment they shared on Ahch-To. Life. Death and decay, that feeds new life. Warmth. Cold. Peace. Violence. She clears her throat before continuing aloud, “A balance, an energy -- a Force.” 

“And inside you?” Luke whispers.

“Inside me…that same Force.” 

Rey is smiling as she opens her eyes, finally understanding him. The Force didn’t send him to her. He was always with her, in the Force. She sits down on the forest ground with her legs crossed, the sun almost fully set now as the last rays of orange light peak through the forest. “So can you help me then? Help me to become a Jedi to defeat Kylo Ren and the First Order?”

Luke takes a step towards her. “I can teach you about the Force, but the path of a Jedi is one you must discover yourself, as I and countless generations of Jedi before you have done.” 

“I-I don’t know how.” A sad look grows on her face from saying it out loud. Admitting weakness was not something that came easily to Rey, nor was it something she was particularly comfortable with. “I can’t defeat him, not alone, and your lightsaber doesn’t work for me the way it used to.”

“A Jedi’s strength does not come from a lightsaber, but from the Force,” he replies plainly. 

She frowns. “You are like, no help at all, you know that?”

Luke laughs for a moment before meeting her eyes. “Rey,” she can hear the affection in his voice now, “learn from my mistakes - do not look to the horizon when the answers you seek are right in front of you.”

Rey sighs and rolls her eyes at him as he turns from her and begins to walk away. “Seriously, that is what you are going to leave me with?”

She can feel him smiling at her, even with his back turned as he begins to walk further into the forest, his silhouette fading into the distance. He calls out to her, but it echoes like a gust of wind in the air: _The Force will be with you…_

She closes her eyes and breathes in again before whispering in response. “Always.” 

***

It’s been five days since Rey’s visit from Luke. Despite her jabs at his seemingly unhelpful guidance, she has to admit his visit had done wonders to calm her spirit. She has become more clear, focused and determined in the days since then. Her training has improved and she could feel herself growing stronger in the Force. Even her command of Luke’s lightsaber, which still wasn’t quite right, has improved.

During this time, she also fashioned herself a new outfit. Her new garb was more white-cream then the beige-grey color she used to wear. She kept her classic tunic and pants but added a hood and flowing embellishments down to her legs that give the outfit a robe-like appearance. Rey figured she might as well try to look like Jedi if she was going to become one. This day, however, her training was interrupted when Finn came running through the forest calling her name. “Rey? Rey?”

“I’m here” she responded, deactivating Luke’s lightsaber.

When Finn finally found her, she noticed a look of relief on his face, which was honestly confusing since he knew she was out here training. It wasn’t until he spoke that she understood why. “We’ve just heard from Poe.”

“What?!” 

Finn smiled as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Yeah...we didn’t get many details but he’ll be back with the rest Black Squadron tomorrow.” 

So Poe made it...and he was bringing the entire squadron back with him. 

“That’s fantastic!” She didn’t hide her enthusiasm at the news and embraced Finn for a moment before they set back off towards camp.

Rey had made it no secret she didn’t like the plan for Poe to go alone, but tried to make peace with it even after his ridiculous antics during the test flight. Right before he had left, they had shared a somewhat awkward moment (at least for her). She had tried to forget about it and was mostly successful in part due to her visits with Kylo, Luke and the intensity of her training. But hearing Poe would be returning caused her mind to drift back to that day...

_Poe’s starfighter was ready to go and BB-8 was already onboard._

_He had made his way to each of them, saying goodbye first to Leia, Connix, Rose and Finn with hugs and sometimes tears on Rose and Connix’s part._

_When he finally arrived in front of her, Rey stood there nervously, not making eye contact and shifting her weight between her feet before looking up at him and half-mumbling, “Try not to get killed.”_

_He reaches forward and put a hand on her shoulder, warmth radiating from his eyes. “Hey - it will be ok. I’ll be ok.” They keep eye contact for another second before he surprises her and pulls Rey into a hug._

_She stands there frozen for a moment, unsure what to do before finally returning the embrace. She doesn’t know why she did (maybe because it was polite or because she wanted to) but it was one of the most awkward and at the same time_ **_right_ ** _feeling moments of her life as she stood there in his arms._

_He released her a second or two later, their eyes still locked on each other. “Keep an eye on them,” he said, tilting his head toward Leia and the others._

_Rey was so overwhelmed all she could do was nod in return._

_He stepped back and made his way to the starfighter before turning around to the group with a thumbs up and another one of his classic Poe Dameron grins on his face. “Take care everyone,” he says before Rey swears he looks directly at her and adds, “I’ll see you on the other side.”_

***

When Poe and the rest of Black Squadron arrive the next day, they are met with a chorus of cheers. Rey feels a bit out of place in the commotion since she doesn’t know any of these people beside Poe. It takes her a minute to find him, but when she finally does and his eyes meet hers, they are drawn to one another in a way she can’t describe.

He stands in front of her, hands on his hips and smiling. He has a few cuts on his face that weren’t there before and probably a few other bruises she can’t see beneath his flight suit. He takes a step forward and gives her a hug, this time she feels less awkward about it despite that _right_ feeling once again returning to her stomach. 

“I didn’t get killed,” he mutters over her shoulder while still in the embrace.

Rey laughs, pulls out of the hug, places a hand on his shoulder, and pushes him back a step in jest. “Yes, Yes, Commander, well done.”

Poe beams. “Thank you.”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head at him as they both stand there, hands on their hips smiling at one another. Only Poe Dameron would find humor in this. “You know what you are?” 

“What?” His eyes are wide as she struggles to answer.

“You are...you are…”

She is unable to finish her train of thought though as another man slides up next to Poe with a grin on his face and puts an arm around him. “Commander Dameron!” The man is larger than Poe and has a fully grown beard. It’s clear the two know each other and judging by their matching flight suits, Rey can only surmise he is a member of Poe’s Black Squadron. 

“Hey Snap” Poe replies with laugh. Rey’s face straightens immediately, as if whatever was going on between them had been broken.

“Rey, This is Captain Temmin Wexley of Black Squadron, my second-in-command. Everyone just calls him Snap for short.” She extends her arm out and Snap takes it, the two shaking hands. “Snap this is Rey. She’s the one who saved us on Crait.”

A huge smile grows across Snap’s face. “So you are the one Poe has been telling us all about?”

She tilts her head at Poe inquisitively. "Am I?" If she didn’t know better, she could swear a bit more color rises to his face as he diverts his eyes from her and rubs the back of his neck.

Snap laughs. “Oh yes, Dameron here has…”

“WELL…” Poe interjects loudly, returning an arm around Snap, “Would you look at the time, we gotta go debrief now, wouldn’t want to keep the General waiting.” Before Rey or Snap can respond, Poe is practically dragging Snap away and towards the Falcon. “We’ll catch up with you later Rey!”

She shakes her head and stands there confused for a moment before deciding to return to training.

***

It was dusk and Poe Dameron sat alone watching a celebration carry on around him. His mission to Ikkrukk had been a success. Not only was he able to rendezvous with Black Squadron and ensure their safety, but they had also made contact with several allies in the Outer Rim willing to provide aid. The Resistance would leave Naboo for Black Spire Outpost soon, but tonight the General had ordered much needed R&R, which turned into a party given everything they had all been through recently. It’s not that he didn’t like parties, it was just that tonight he had too much on his mind. 

“What’s going through your head Dameron?” Poe turns to see Snap standing next to him.

“Nothing.” 

Snap doesn’t seem to believe him though because he takes a seat next to Poe. Captain Wexley has known Poe a long time and he knows when the wheels are turning in his head. “Common man, it’s me. What’s going on?” They sit there for several minutes in silence, watching the rest of the Resistance drink, eat, laugh and enjoy each others company.

Poe sighs. “Just been thinking about things...” He watches Rey, Finn and Rose together, laughing and telling stories while BB-8 zips around them. 

“About the war?” 

“I don’t know, just a different perspective I guess.” Poe runs his hands through his hair and continues to watch his friends.“This war, this resistance, all of this, it’s not about heroes or legends Snap. It’s not about Jedi or the best pilots in the galaxy winning against impossible odds. It's not about saving the galaxy.”

Snap looks at him confused. “How do you mean?”

“It’s about saving your galaxy.” Poe’s eyes instinctively gravitate on Rey. “The one within your reach. You choose right over wrong. When it’s dark, you try to bring some light. You end your journey knowing you made things brighter. I think that’s the fight.”

“You really think so?” 

Whether it be by the Force or some other cosmic entity, Rey looks up and over toward Poe in that exact moment, her hazel eyes meeting his brown. She smiles at him and he could swear her eyes sparkle in the moonlight, like galaxies of their own. He nods back at her with a smile.

“Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to address the question around Force ghosts in this chapter and how come they don't just show up whenever they want and do things. I like the idea that while there is an element a Jedi Master learns, it is the living user of the Force which brings about the connection. I don't think I wrote it particularly well, but hey, that's life sometimes.
> 
> Anyway, as previously noted, this Chapter 7 is actually the last chapter of this story. 
> 
> I want to thank you all so much for reading my first fic here on AO3 - I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Chapter 8 is my promised (6000 word) rambling of thoughts and opinions on TROS and character development. 
> 
> Thank you all again <3


	8. Author Notes: Feelings about TROS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of mixed thoughts, opinions and feelings after watching Rise of Skywalker. Writing this was my therapeutic way of processing them. I hope you find it interesting. Please read the beginning notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ THESE NOTES FIRST!
> 
> (1) There be spoilers for Rise of Skywalker ahead. That should be obvious, but I’ll say it nonetheless. 
> 
> (2) Everything below is only my feelings and opinions about the sequel trilogy characters and their story arcs as a result of watching TROS. I am by no means saying that my opinions and analysis of these characters and their story arcs are “correct.” Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and feelings, what follows below are simply mine. 
> 
> (3) If you don’t want to read 6000 words of rambling, skip down to the Final Thoughts section at the bottom for a tl;dr and a very quick brainstorm of how I might have approached TROS differently while still keeping pretty much all of the same story in place. That being said, if I was going to do a full "fix-it," I would not keep most of the same story in place.
> 
> (4) I would absolutely welcome anyone's comments, opinions and feelings about my own thoughts and analysis of these characters, especially if they are counter to my own. 
> 
> (5) I have nothing but endless love for Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac. I think they did a fantastic job portraying these characters during this whole trilogy. They aren’t responsible for writing the story.
> 
> (6) One last time...EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS BELOW IS JUST MY OPINION!!! I know Star Wars is very emotional topic for a lot of people, myself included. I am in no way telling you have to feel about this movie, the sequel trilogy, these characters, who to ship, what to think or anything remotely like that. You do you. 
> 
> Alright...here we go....

Let me come right out and say I did not particularly care for The Rise of Skywalker. I have many issues with the film from pacing to fan service, but my biggest issue with the last installment of the sequel trilogy is that, in my opinion, TROS ruined three of the four main character arcs within the story. The new main characters being Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Poe. 

_[A/N: Because this is a trilogy, when I refer to overall character story arcs, I’m referring to the journey we take with these characters across all three films._ _]_

My feelings would probably be different if the execution stayed consistent to what I believe to be these characters' story, but unfortunately, it did not and as a result I was left with somewhat of an empty feeling inside when it all ended. As I noted at the end of Chapter 3 in this fic, I think this is also illustrated in review comments I've read where people are asking/complaining about what was the real point of this sequel trilogy beyond putting out films to make money.

As an aside, I do think the sequel trilogy was hurt by trying to conclude the larger “Skywalker saga,” which in my opinion caused a lot creative conflict between the new characters and their stories and the old characters. For the time being, I’m going to do my best to put aside larger questions of how effective this trilogy and TROS was as a conclusion to the Skywalker saga and instead stay focused primarily on these four new main characters introduced throughout the sequel trilogy. I’m also going to try to put aside, as much as I can, my feelings about things like Force power usage and larger Star Wars world building concepts. 

**Understanding Character Arcs**

Before we begin looking at the individual main characters of the sequel trilogy, let me briefly talk about character arcs, why they are so important to the overall story, and general concepts of how they are crafted. I will be heavily referencing concepts from K.M. Weiland, the author of the book [Creating Character Arcs](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944936041/).

In writing about character arcs and story, Weiland writes the following: 

_"Character evolution is at the heart of any good story. Whether it’s the protagonist doing the changing, or whether the protagonist is changing the minor characters, character arcs are ultimately the whole point of fiction. The change—the journey from one spiritual/emotional/intellectual place to another—is the story of humanity."_

This fundamental change is what connects us to a story. Without the change - positive, negative or flat - the story is just events happening in time. They may be cool events, but the story will ultimately fail to resonate with you on a personal level. 

A good example of this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the Avengers Infinity War saga. Yes there is a lot of cool moments in the MCU series, but at the end of the day the reason the Infinity War saga resonated with so many people was due to our ability to connect with and witness the change the plethora of characters took within the universe throughout all of the different films. A contrast to this could potentially be seen as the DC universe and Justice League. Yes, there were many cool moments in the DC universe, but ultimately it lacked the developed characters and their journey of change which the MCU provides. 

Now that we understand why and how character development is critical to the story, let’s try to (briefly) discuss how character change arcs are constructed. 

According to Weiland it begins with what she calls **The Lie Your Character Believes:**

_“In order for a character to evolve, she has to start out with something lacking in her life, some reason that makes the change necessary. She is incomplete in some way, but not because she is lacking something external. No, your character is incomplete on the inside. She is harboring some deeply held misconception about either herself, the world, or, probably, both.”_

The journey the character takes throughout the story is either a positive change arc where the character overcomes the Lie to find the Truth, or a negative change arc where the character fails to overcome the Lie and may adopt an even deeper, more destructive Lie. Throughout the story, the character will have their own personal wants and needs. 

**What a Character Wants** is what they believe to be the solution to their Lie, even if they don’t fully understand the Lie itself. As Weiland writes: _“The Thing Your Character Wants will almost always be something external, something physical. He’s trying to salve his inner emptiness with exterior solutions.”_

**What a Character Needs** , in its most simple terms, is the Truth in order to overcome the Lie. 

Let's use the original Marvel Thor movie released in 2011 as an example. In the movie, Thor’s Lie is that might makes right - he is strong therefore he is right. What he wants is to be king. What he needs (his Truth) is to learn humility and compassion.

Another way to describe this change from the Lie to the Truth can be through G.R.R.M.'s famous paraphrase of William Faulkner: "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself." 

Now that we have established the fundamentals of character arcs, **The Lie The Character Believes** , and their **Wants** and **Needs** , let me go through each of the four main characters in the new Star Wars sequel trilogy and explain why I feel TROS ruined most of them, starting with Rey. 

**Rey**

Rey is the protagonist of the sequel trilogy story and thus the most important character whose arc directly ties into the question of why the story is important and meaningful. 

Rey’s Lie She Believes is that her identity and value can only be given to her by others. This Lie was created and reinforced throughout her life when her parents left her on Jakku and she grew up alone, unloved, and unvalued as a scavenger. When we first meet Rey in TFA what she wants is a family, specifically for her family to return to Jakku for her. 

Like most protagonists early in a story, she is very reactive to the larger story happening around her. She helps Finn, BB-8, Han and the Resistance because she is a good person, not because she hates the First Order or Kylo Ren. What she wants is what she tells both Finn and Han - to return to Jakku for her family. Her character development in TFA is slowly learning that she can build friendships and family of her own. This comes to a head when Kylo Ren kills his Han, a surogat father figure, and injures Finn, her friend / brother-like companion. 

Rey’s first step toward her Truth - that she alone is responsible for defining her identity and value - is when she [pulls Luke’s lightsaber to her through the Force](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWF0f183tSA). She looks apprehensively between Kylo Ren and the lightsaber before igniting it and fighting him on her own to defend the only family she has, the one she built herself. 

Fast forward to TLJ and most of Rey’s character development is around learning and rejecting her Wants as the solutions to her Lie. What Rey wants is for Luke to come with her back to the Resistance to stop Kylo Ren and the First Order. She also eventually wants him to train her to become a Jedi. She has held up Luke and the Jedi as the solution to her problem, which she states herself: _“I need someone to show me my place in all this.”_ This sentiment beautifully echoes her Lie - that she cannot have an identity and value without it being given to her by others.

Through her interactions with Luke and connection with Kylo Ren, she learns the identity and value she once associated with the Jedi are not what we she thought. This results in her rejecting Luke and racing off to Kylo under the belief that she can save him. Instead of wanting Luke and the Jedi, Rey’s character wants change to being to save Kylo Ren. But ultimately she is still within her belief of her Lie - that her identity and value is dependent on others. She is simply swapping Luke and the Jedi as the solution to her Lie and instead believes redeeming Kylo Ren is the answer. This is an important part of Rey’s journey however, because it is where Rey as the protagonist stops becoming a passive, reactive participant in the story and instead becomes an active one.

I will talk about Kylo Ren in detail after I go through Rey’s arc, but Kylo has the same Lie as Rey, however, he experiences a negative change arc throughout TFA and TLJ. I have to say, personally I find this to be fantastic character development which comes to a climax when Kylo asks Rey to join him after they kill Snoke and his guards. Rey is left broken and crying as Kylo tells her she is nothing and no one, but not to him.

In this moment, Kylo literally tells Rey her Lie to her face - that she has no identity and value without it being given to her by others - and then he tells her that he is the only one who can give her what she seeks. Rey rejects his offer, thus coming closer to the understanding of her Truth that she alone is responsible for her identity and value. She then saves her friends and family in the Resistance herself, using the force and without Luke or Kylo. She even does this by "lifting rocks," a subtle contrast to her earlier wants with Luke. The end of TLJ is Rey having to forge her own path with Luke’s lightsaber broken.

This ultimately brings us to Rise of Skywalker. In the very beginning of TROS, Rey wants to forge her identity as a Jedi, but she is trying to do so with a romanticized vision of what a Jedi is. She tries and fails the training course. She rejects Luke’s fixed lightsaber saying that she hasn’t earned it. I personally like to think it's more that it’s not attuned to her anymore, a representation of the struggle to build her own identity separate from Luke or another person. Her argument with Poe and Finn when they return initially with the Falcon is somewhat of a mirror opposite of her conversation with Kylo Ren at the end of TLJ. I like to think when Poe tells Rey they need her, that she’s the best fighter they have, and Finn agrees, its them saying they need her, Rey of Jakku, not some romanticized Jedi version of herself she believes she needs to become. 

Throughout most of TROS however, this early character development is thrown out the window as most of the plot serves as foreshadowing and eventual reveal that she is the Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter. Personally, I have a lot of issues with bringing Palpatine back (namely its impact to the OT story) and making Rey his granddaughter. In the context of Rey’s character arc however, I feel it actually regresses Rey’s character development. 

Through TFA and TLJ, Rey has already come to the understanding that she alone will need to create her identity and value. I felt TROS was initially setup to be about her struggle to do so. Instead, Rey backtracks as character to once again have to learn her identity is not given to her by her family. The reason I say this is character regression is because Rey already came to this conclusion in TLJ. Despite my feelings toward this reveal, it still ultimately fits within Rey’s character arc, even it regresses her. 

_[A/N: I will address Rey’s confrontations with Kylo Ren when I speak to his character story next. As it relates to Rey’s journey, I don’t find it particularly meaningful as it doesn't actually change Rey as a character other than to act as a vehicle of exposition regarding this reveal.]_

Which ultimately brings us to the point where we are 90% through TROS and we reach the final climax of our story: the confrontation with Emperor Palpatine and eventual conclusion. And this is where, again in my opinion, TROS basically ruins Rey’s entire character arc. 

To quote Weiland again: _"The Climax is the reason for the story. This is where the author reveals what the journey the character just endured was really all about—and, in a Positive Change Arc, why that journey has turned out to be worth all the heartaches and trauma.”_

In a positive change arc for the protagonist of a story, it is **absolutely imperative** the character’s full rejection of their Lie and embrace of the Truth is was enables their ability to overcome the struggle / hardship / antagonist or whatever is primary opposition force within the story.

In the climax of TROS, Rey is lying on the ground and watching all her friends and family in the Resistance die. She looks up, asks a whole bunch of other Jedi to give her strength, rises to her feet, says she is all the Jedi who came before her and uses Luke and Leia’s lightsabers to defeat the Emperor. 

In my opinion, everything in that sequence not only doesn’t allow Rey to fully reject her Lie and embrace the Truth, but actively strengthens the Lie she already believes and has been struggling to reject. 

She gains strength from people who are not herself and uses weapons that are not her own for no reason that is unique or special to her as a character and the journey she has been through. This may have created a “cool” moment, but I find it to be essentially paramount to full character assassination of Rey. You could literally swap Rey out with any of our other “good guy/gal” characters in that position and basically get the same result. 

The only unique thing here is that she is the Emperor’s granddaughter, and maybe that is what they believed was her arc: Rey choosing her identity as Jedi over the identity given to her being a Palpatine. The problem I have with that approach is they turned Rey into a Jedi because of a fantasy of Jedi vs Sith in Star Wars, rather than an actual change within Rey as a character.

To quote Luke Skywalker: “confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi.” I personally like to believe this means that becoming a Jedi isn’t about defeating the Sith or Dark Side, but rather its about confronting your own fear, your own Lie, and embracing the Truth. 

To parallel back to the original trilogy, Luke didn’t become a Jedi because he defeated Vader. Luke became a Jedi when he rejected his Lie and embraced the Truth that he is not his father and that he doesn't need to hate his father. 

Embracing this Truth ultimately led to Luke sparing his father’s life and his father sacrificing himself to defeat the Emperor (lol j/k) in order to save Luke and Rebellion. Thus, embracing the Truth is what was actually needed for our good guys to succeed in this story.

Rey never gets the same opportunity here because she is enabled to overcome the climax of the story without fully rejecting her Lie. 

The conclusion and Rey’s final scene of TROS is ultimately made worse by this. Part of the importance of conclusion is showing us the audience / reader that the character’s embrace of the Truth has left them in a better place than where they were at the start of the story. We need to see it with our own eyes - the Truth has fundamentally made the character’s life better. 

Because Rey never gets to fully embrace her Truth, the conclusion we see is her alone (save BB-8), on a desert just like she started the story, and taking on someone else’s name, Skywalker. 

If she had gotten to her Truth, I might be able to view her taking the name Skywalker as part of Rey crafting her own identity, which I imagine was the intent. Unfortunately, because I feel like she never gets to reject her Lie, Rey taking the name Skywalker only feels like further reinforcement of that Lie. The only positive part of the conclusion was the reveal of her own new lightsaber made up of parts of her staff, something that was entirely her own identity. 

So...all of that being said, it really comes down to Rey never getting to fully reject her Lie and embrace the Truth. In my opinion, it ruins her character arc, which through TFA and TLJ was excellent, and at the very least was consistent through TROS until the ending. As a result, the story of the sequel trilogy loses a lot of impact for me because I’m left sitting here wondering what was the point of it all. 

_[A/N: I just found[this article](https://www.polygon.com/star-wars/2020/1/7/21054832/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-ending-meaning-jedi-order-voices-defeat-sith) which is a different approach but similar analysis to the conclusion of Rey's story. It's worth a read if you found this interesting.]_

**Kylo Ren / Ben Solo**

Throughout the first two films, Kylo Ren has the same Lie as Rey - that his identity and value can only be given to him by others. This is made manifest by his upbringing as the son of Han and Leia, nephew of the great Luke Skywalker, and then after his turn to the Dark Side, grandson of Darth Vader. Similar to Rey, what he needs is the Truth - that his identity and value are his alone to create. 

Personally, I really like Kylo Ren and find him to be a very interesting character for a number of reasons: (1) His arc as the primary antagonist of the story is the mirror opposite of Rey (the protagonist) up until the start of TROS. They both believe the same Lie, but while Rey experiences a positive change arc, Kylo experiences a negative change arc. (2) The story’s primary antagonist is not some evil psychopath who just wants to kill everyone and take over the galaxy because he is evil. No, Kylo Ren has a clear motivation for doing bad - it's for what he believes is a good reason. This is generally not common in Star Wars storytelling which likes to stick to more straightforward good guy vs bad guy themes. (See Chapter 6 of this fic for how I tried to flesh that out.) (3) He is still the son of the “good guys” Han and Leia, which makes his role as the antagonist generally more interesting and how it impacts the good guy characters we know and love. 

This ultimately leads us to TROS and Kylo Ren’s redemption arc. 

Before I go any further let me acknowledge something as I know there are a lot of people with very strong opinions with regards John Boyega’s recent comments: 

I do not necessarily like Reylo as a ship, but it has nothing to do with me shipping Damerey. **I firmly believe everyone should ship who they want to ship.**

_[Obligatory Reminder: ALL OF THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.]_

I believe a large part of the shipping of Reylo to be directly tied to Kylo Ren’s redemption arc. (I’m excluding Kylo Ren and Dark Rey ships as we’re sticking within the cannon character arcs.) 

In the context of my thoughts and feelings about Kylo Ren as a character, which is the point of writing this (and not ships), there are really only two questions that need to be answered:

  1. Do you believe Kylo Ren should be redeemed?
  2. Do you like / believe the way in which Kylo Ren was redeemed in TROS?



Both these questions are entirely subjective and before I get into the details, let me give you my thoughts and tl;dr answers to these questions:

I mostly do not think Kylo Ren should be redeemed. (Which is the primary reason why I don’t ship Reylo.) I do think there are scenarios in which Kylo Ren could be redeemed which I would find satisfying, but I think that path is less interesting, less consistent with his character and thus harder to pull off. I absolutely, 100% flat-out did not like his redemption arc in TROS. 

_[A/N: Still with me? Ok...let’s get into the specifics…]_

Let’s start with the first question: Do you believe Kylo Ren should be redeemed? 

Redeeming a character is entirely up to us as the reader. The author creates the narrative and journey for the character but we as the audience decide whether the character deserves to be redeemed and if the journey has been effective in redeeming the character. To put it bluntly, it’s about paying a debt. The worse a character’s thoughts and actions, the more hardship the character will need to go through in order to convince us to redeem him. 

In the classic Star Wars story, this is best exemplified by Darth Vader. By all objective measures Vader was a very bad guy who did bad things. Vader was generally able to be accepted by the audience at large as redeemed though because he sacrificed himself for the ones he loved. Extreme bad countered by extreme hardship and ultimately sacrifice. The greater the bad, the greater the hardship and sacrifice is required. 

In order to convince us to redeem a character, an author will often use several techniques to help us sympathize with the character and accept her redemption. Let’s go through some of these common techniques as they apply to Kylo Ren:

  1. Kylo isn’t pure evil, which means while he does bad things, we can see why and how he got there even if we don’t agree with it. Generally speaking, this is always more believable as in real life there are very few “purely evil” people.
  2. In TFA and TLJ we see Kylo struggle with being bad, for example he hesitates when he has the opportunity to kill his mother
  3. Kylo has a good guy background, he is the son of two of our biggest heroes, so by extension, we naturally want to see that same good in him because we still cheer for his parents and their story. Kylo Ren as their son is still part of their story.
  4. He has a positive (romantic depending on your opinion) connection with the protagonist Rey.
  5. Adam Driver is hot. That sounds very blunt, but it's easier to redeem characters who are attractive, funny and possess other qualities we would generally associate as “good.”
  6. Kylo kills Snoke, which helps our protagonist Rey when no one else can and she would otherwise fail without his help. 
  7. There are even worse, more pure evil bad guys than Kylo Ren such as Snoke/Emperor Palpatine



A similar bad-guy character to Kylo Ren who has many of these same qualities that is widely accepted by audiences as redeemed (or at least an anti-hero) is Loki from the MCU played by Tom Hiddleston. Outside of #4, Loki exhibits all of these other attributes for redemption as Kylo Ren. 

So if the above are some of the reasons that make Kylo Ren a candidate to be redeemed, why don’t I think he should be redeemed heading into TROS? For me, the answer comes down to this quote by Robert McKee in his book [Story](https://www.amazon.com/Story-Substance-Structure-Principles-Screenwriting/dp/0060391685/):

 _“True character is revealed in the choices a human makes under pressure - the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the_ **_character’s essential nature_ ** _.”_

Let’s look at the two most pressured moments Kylo Ren found himself in leading up to TROS. In TFA, Kylo struggles between following in Vader’s footsteps and being his parents’ son. He tells Han: _“I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.”_ In this moment of pressure, the choice he makes is to kill his own father, a character we the audience love. 

In TLJ, he experiences similar conflict trying to find an identity outside of Vader. Yes, he helps Rey and kills Snoke, but he accepts a deeper Lie rather than moving toward the Truth when he tells her to let the past die. His new Lie is an even more destructive one and a distorted view of the Truth - that he can craft his own identity and value but only if he kills the past which torments him. He then tells Rey he wants her to join him so they can rule together.

As a result of these interactions, I feel there are really only two positive reasons left to want him redeemed: (1) We either still want his redemption because he’s the son of Han Solo and Leia and we want their story to end well and their son is an extension of their story. OR (2) We want his redemption because we want to see him and Rey together. 

Those two reasons are not enough for me to believe at this point in Kylo Ren’s story that he should be redeemed. In each of these high pressure scenarios in TFA and TLJ, Kylo Ren has shown us his character’s essential nature via the choices he made - which has always been decidedly bad. Take away those final two reasons, especially the first one for me, and I really have no reason to want him redeemed. 

Let me repeat myself: redeeming a character is up to us as the audience. I hope you can follow my explanation above as to why I don’t think Kylo Ren should be redeemed. How **YOU** feel about whether or not Kylo Ren should be redeemed (and somewhat by extension, Reylo) is up to **YOU** . 

**I am in no way telling you how to feel or who to ship.**

With this understanding, let’s try to answer the second question then: Do you like the way in which Kylo Ren was redeemed?

For me, this is a resounding no. I feel like 75% of Kylo Ren’s character in TROS is spent basically doing nothing but chasing Rey around and providing ominus exposition and eventually revealing she is a Palpatine. During this time he doesn’t change as character nor does he have the same internal conflict and development we saw in TFA and TLJ. You could say even regresses as a character since he fixes his helmet and starts to wear it again. Nothing Kylo does is particularly unique or interesting to him as character beyond his force bond with Rey, which quite honestly could easily be removed. Unlike how the bond is used in TLJ to grow and change both Kylo Ren and Rey, TROS reduces their bond to a deus ex machina to move the plot forward. (He uses it find Rey on Pasaana and then aboard his ship when they are on Kijimi.)

Which brings us to Kef Bir and his eventual redemption. Let’s review: he feels his mother die, Rey mortally wounds him, she heals him, tells him she wanted to take Ben’s hand back on Snoke’s ship, she flies away, he has a memory conversation with his dad and then bam he decides he’s a good guy again. 

I’m sorry - but no - this does not work for me as redemption. 

Going back to McKee’s quote: 

“ _True character is revealed in the choices a human makes under pressure -_ **_the greater the pressure,_ ** _the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.”_

How is this more pressure then the sequence in TLJ where he was going to kill the woman he has romantic feelings for (Rey), watch the rest of his family die (Leia), and finally become a Dark Lord of the Sith on his own merit outside the shadow of Darth Vader? We saw what he did in that scenario: he killed his master and saved Rey, but embraced a deeper Lie. Here in TROS, I am supposed to believe he turns back to the light just because Rey tells him she wanted to take Ben’s hand and he had a nice memory of his dad? We literally saw those exact same situations where he has a conversation with his dad in TFA and Rey wants him to go with her and turn back to the light in TLJ. In both previous situations he made the “bad” choice. 

Look, I get it, seeing Han Solo is nice and it brings up warm butterfly feelings in my stomach, but this does not work for me in relation to Kylo Ren and his character arc. If you were going to redeem Kylo Ren, the stakes somehow needed to be higher for him than at any point in TFA or TLJ. If that is not possible, don’t redeem him at all, which I explained above is my preference. 

_[A/N: Wow this is getting longer then Rey’s section, let’s wrap this up Lem shall we?]_

So basically the rest of Kylo Ren’s story in TROS fails for me because his redemption fails. He goes to find Rey on Exegol (how does he get there when she takes his ship?), helps convince her to not take the Emperor's offer (literally his only good part of the movie IMO), gets a lightsaber from Rey through their bond (lol ok), fights the Knights of Ren for no reason other than action yay, gets his dyad bond drained (ok?), gets knocked off a ledge, uses his life force to save Rey (lol ok), she kisses him, then he dies. 

In case you can’t tell, I’m literally facepalming as I write this because it pains me that much. I didn’t think Kylo Ren should be redeemed, but if you were going to do it, I don’t know how you do it this badly. 

_[A/N: I’m not going to write anymore here, because I could ramble on for another 1000 words at minimum. Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that even though I ship Damerey, I actually really really like Kylo Ren as character and it pains me what they did to him._

_I’m going to try to make the rest of this A LOT quicker than my sections on Rey and Kylo mostly to save time and also because Finn and Poe are decidedly less important to the overall sequel trilogy as they are not the protagonist or antagonist of the story.]_

**Finn**

Welcome to third character TROS ruined for me. Finn’s character arc in TFA is simple: he wants to get away from the First Order and really only takes action in the story to protect the only two friends/family he has made in life: Poe and Rey. In TLJ, he begins with basically the same motivations and over the course of the film, he is supposed to become a believer in the Resistance beyond just his feelings for Poe and Rey. 

I don’t think Finn’s arc is executed particularly well in TLJ, the Canto Blight storyline is my least favorite part of the whole movie by a mile, but I can understand and appreciate his development as a character at the conceptual level even if I don’t like its execution within the story. 

_[A/N: This last comment has nothing to do with Rose either, I love Rose.]_

Fast forward to TROS - and I will apologize in advance for putting it bluntly - Finn’s character is basically 100% fully regressed to his TFA state. For me, he spends the whole movie chasing Rey around, yelling out her name while he chases her (anyone count how many times he actually yells “Rey”?) and getting a “feeling” (JJ can you be any more subtle?). He meets Jannah and other ex-Stormtroopers, becomes a co-general of the resistance for no reason other than Poe wants him to, and then fights to save his friends...which he already did in TFA when he comes back for Rey and uses Luke’s lightsaber to fight Kylo Ren.

The only actual somewhat interesting thing here that is unique to Finn is meeting Jannah and other ex-Stormtroopers. Unfortunately, that story is given like 1-2 minutes of screen time which is otherwise dominated by him chasing Rey around like a love-sick puppy. Talk about waste. 

I can see why John Boyega is pissed, I mean this is just....sad…and so bad. 

**Poe Dameron**

Poe is the only one of our four main new characters who wasn’t completely ruined in TROS for me. I thought his TFA through TLJ character arc of evolving from a hotshot pilot into a leader was actually pretty interesting even if there were some annoying things in its execution. 

We get to see a little bit of this continued character arc in TROS of struggling to lead the Resistance once Leia dies. I particularly liked his scene with Lando after Leia died. Unfortunately this is all extremely minimal character development overall and somewhat reduced by the fact he asks Finn to be his co-General even though this plot point is Poe’s character arc and not Finn’s.

Instead, most of the Poe centric character time in TROS is spent giving him an unneeded backstory as a spice runner other than to introduce Zorii Bliss, Babu Fink, sell merchandise, and prove he isn’t gay. Look, I don’t think any of this backstory was actually needed for Poe as a character. It didn’t really add anything to his previously existing character arc to grow from a hotshot pilot to a leader who could succeed Leia in the Resistance. In fact, I would say it took away from potentially cool character development by kind of just wasting our time with something unnecessary.

On the plus side, Poe at least exits TROS without his character arc ruined (unlike Rey, Kylo and Finn), but there was definitely a lot left on the table as far as what they could have done instead.

**Final Thoughts**

Circling back to where I started this long therapy writing marathon: I did not particularly care for The Rise of Skywalker as a movie. Putting aside issues with pacing, fan service, plot, Star Wars lore/cannon, and ending the Skywalker saga - I feel like the film ruins three out of the four new main character arcs.

Rey never gets to fully establish her own identity and value separate from our other characters, namely Skywalkers. Kylo Ren’s redemption is handled so poorly it's laughable and Finn’s character fully regresses to basically just following Rey around. As a result, the entire sequel trilogy was greatly diminished for me. 

As a final thought exercise, let me throw out a hypothetical plot I was brainstorming as a potential alternative narrative which puts these characters generally in the same place at the end of TROS, includes a Kylo Ren redemption, helps fix some of Rey’s character arc, and leaves most of the major story beats in place:

_We see Kylo Ren with actual character development and still struggling in TROS like he does in TFA and TLJ. Rey crafts her own new lightsaber using her staff when Luke’s lightsaber won’t work for her. During one of Rey and Kylo’s fights, he manages to take her new lightsaber. They somehow get to Exegol and Rey fights Palpatine with Luke (and Leia?)’s lightsaber but she fails. Rey is about to die but Kylo decides he can’t lose her because he has already lost enough and he loves her. So he gets between Rey and Palpatine and sacrifices himself to save her. In the process of this act, he gives Rey back the lightsaber he took from her (the one she made from her own staff). Finally embracing the Truth of her ability to craft her own identity (physically represented in the form her own lightsaber, not Luke’s lightsaber or the channeling of power of other past Jedi), she defeats Emperor Palpatine and rejects her Lie. She is not Rey Palpatine or Skywalker. She is Rey of Jakku, Jedi Knight, family of Finn and Poe Dameron._

I don’t know about you, but that just sounds like a way better and more emotionally engaging ending to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I would really appreciate your comments and thoughts if you would be willing to share them with me. <3
> 
> In the meantime, I'm going to run and hide now.


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